Rockville pulls away in third quarter as Union season ends

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FRANKFORT, IND. -- Jeff Holloway saw tears in the locker room after the game Saturday. In a unique way, the Union boys basketball coach viewed it as a good thing.

The Rockets lost 51-34 to Rockville in a Class A Frankfort Regional semifinal game Saturday, ending one of the best seasons in school history. Union (16-7) won its first sectional title since 1970 this season, its second ever. Union supporters were spread throughout Case Arena, and the Rockets left to a loud ovation despite the defeat Saturday.

In past years, the end of the season at Union hasn't brought tears. So Holloway was happy to see that Saturday's regional game meant so much to his team.

"They really thought they had a chance to win this game," Holloway said. "So I could see the hurt feelings and the tears in their eyes. I just felt so bad for them, but at the same time, I'm proud of them."

Union remained close with Class A No. 6 Rockville (20-5) throughout the first half Saturday. The Rox held a one-point advantage after the first quarter and a four-point lead at halftime.

Rockville made its move in the third quarter.

Union didn't score until the final minute of the third, when Spencer Shore hit a 3-pointer to score his team's only points of the period. Rockville's Lane Mahurin scored six points in the quarter and Joel Wittenmyer added five, and the Rox pushed their lead to 14 points by the end of the quarter.

"Once they got ahead and they were feeling it, we fell apart," Union junior Willie Eviston said.

Union was unable to make up the deficit in the fourth quarter in what turned into a 17-point loss to end the season. The Rockets forced six turnovers in the fourth quarter to attempt a comeback, but Rockville made its other possessions count. The Rox shot 5-of-6 from the field and went 6-of-6 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.

Rockville shot 56 percent (20-of-36) from the field for the game. Union shot 41 percent (13-of-32). The Rockets shot just 1-of-7 from the field in the third quarter. Rockville also outrebounded Union 26-14.

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The 6-foot-7 Mahurin led the way for Rockville.

After a slow first quarter with two points and no rebounds, he got moving in the second quarter. He scored nine more points and grabbed three rebounds before halftime. He finished the game with 23 points and nine rebounds. He shot 8-of-11 from the field and went 7-of-7 at the foul line.

"We did a good job on him early," Holloway said. "I thought we limited his touches, we didn't let him catch it easy and make shots. He got going, he's tough."

Shore scored 10 points to lead Union. Eviston scored eight points for the Rockets.

The Rockets will lose two seniors from this season's team, Conner Shore and Alex North. To Holloway, the Rockets' fourth-year coach, it's a special class. Conner Shore and North were freshmen in his first year on the job, the first class he's seen through an entire Union career. Together they went through consecutive two-win seasons and a six-win year before this year's success. This season marked Union's first 10-win season since 1993-94.

"I feel the worst for them," Holloway said. "I talked to them in the locker room. I told them there's no words that I could give them to make them feel better. We started this together."

Union also has plenty of youth on this year's roster. Eviston, the leading scorer, is a junior. Spencer Shore, the other Rocket to average in double-figures, is a sophomore. And three other players who averaged at least six points a game (Jason Bowling, Tanner Cates and Michael Netherly) are juniors.

"We'll work harder than we did last summer and hopefully we'll be better next year," Eviston said.

Contact prep sports reporter Sam Wilson at 213-5807. Follow him on Twitter @SamWilsonTSP.

Source: http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120311/HSSPORTS03/203110341/1006/RSS02

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