Eagles struggle against Rox

Allowing Rockville to come out to an early lead, the South Putnam boys never caught up as they fell 76-29 to the Rox at home.

Starting the game with 999 career points, Rockville's R.J. Mahurin was quick to pass the 1,000 mark. South Putnam stopped the game to recognize that milestone for the 6-foot-7.5-inch junior, who finished the game with 22 points, including six three-pointers.

Rockville has a large team, including 6-foot-7-inch senior forward Josh Taylor, who tallied 15 points, and 6-foot-4.5-inch junior Matt King, also with 15.

It was their size that South Putnam coach Brian Gardner said was hard for his team to handle.

"I think we ended up more stagnant than moving," Gardner said of his team's offense, " and when you stand on 6-7 guys and let them put pressure on where you can go."

Allowing Rockville to gain an early lead also allowed the Rox to gamble more on their own offense, the coach said.

"You have to press a little more than what you want them to, and that leads to turnovers," Gardner said.

"We turned it over a lot, and part of that was that we pressed more than we needed to, but, part of that was we were stagnant and couldn't move."

South Putnam's shots did not fall in the first quarter when they needed them. Rockville had a 30-6 lead after eight minutes of play, and they held South Putnam to just four points in the second quarter, taking a 47-10 lead into the locker room.

Rockville let up in the third quarter as Coach Dave Mahurin rotated in his bench to give playing time.

"We shot well early, so we used everybody in the roster," he said. "South Putnam played real hard."

Junior Noah Boswell led Eagle scoring with 12 points, followed by sophomore Nathan Welty with 8. Senior Michael Sebanc hit one three-pointer on the evening, while sophomores Cameron Chestnut and Drew Cash each sank two free throws. Juniors Dayne Nelson and Conor Frame were each 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

Rockville is now 9-1 on the season, coming off a good performance at the Wabash Valley tournament.

As for his son's milestone, Mahurin said simply, "It's a nice thing for him."

R.J. shot well from the perimeter, where he nailed six three-pointers. In his last two performances, he has totaled 38 and 40 points.

Rockville will now move into conference play, and Mahurin said he expects the competition to get tougher.

South Putnam, now 1-7 on the season, takes on Eminence tonight (Saturday) at home.

At South Putnam

South Putnam -- 6-4-7-12 -- 29

Rockville -- 30-17-16-13 -- 79

South Putnam -- Nelson 0-0 1-2 1, Sebanc 1-4 0-0 3, Cash 0-3 2-2 2, Chestnut 0-7 2-2 2, Frame 0-2 1-2 1, Welty 2-7 3-5 8, Boswell 5-6 2-2 12, Masters 0-4 0-4 0.

Rockville -- Mahurin 7-12 2-2 22, Reed 1-1 0-0 2, Bridge 4-9 2-4 11, Harper 3-7 2-2 8, Parsons 1-2 1-3 9, Taylor 5-6 5-5 15, King 4-7 3-3 15.

3-pt FG -- SP 6 (Sebanc 1-2, Welty 1-2) Rockville 30 (Mahurin 6-9, Bridge 1-2, King 3-3. Total fouls -- SP 10, Rockville 18.