Granville boys basketball digs deep for tourney win
- Austin Rush had 26 points and eight rebounds to lead the Blue Aces to victory.
- Scott Herb%27s layup gave Granville the lead for good.
GRANVILLE – The Blue Aces had to navigate their way though some rough patches Monday.
The tournament trail will become more difficult, but it was just enough on this night. Granville overcame a late River Valley rally to beat the visiting Vikings 61-57 in a first-round game.
River Valley completed a 17-4 run, tying the game at 54 with 1:40 left. Sam Choice, however, took a pass on the right wing from a driving Alex Meurer and hit Scott Herb, who slid down the right side of the lane for the go-ahead layup on Granville's next possession.
"We have definitely grown," senior Austin Rush said. "We had a stretch in (early February) where we were having trouble closing games. This proves we can hang in when things get tough. We held strong."
The sixth-seeded Blue Aces (18-5) host seventh-seeded Beechcroft at 7 p.m. Saturday in a second-round game. The Blue Aces have lost at home at this point each of the past two seasons.
First things first. Granville could never shake River Valley (13-10), which received 15 fourth-quarter points from Danyon Hempy. Hempy finished with 25, but Rush was one better, scoring 26 and grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.
"(Rush) made some good offensive moves, and the nice thing is the past few games he has attacked the glass well, too," Granville coach Adam Teeters said. "He ended up with eight rebounds, six on the offensive end, and that's good. It shows he is willing to do a little bit of the tiny things that make a big difference in the long run."
Granville committed seven of its 17 turnovers in the fourth quarter to aid the Vikings in their rally, but as it has so many times this season, the Blue Aces' senior frontcourt saved the day.
The Blue Aces held a 32-22 rebounding edge, including a relentless effort on the offensive glass. Herb added 12 points, and Ben Alexander, who sat much of the game with foul trouble, was on the court during the final minute and forced Hempy into a wild shot to help preserve the win.
"Rebounding is definitely big for us no matter what position you are," Choice said. "You just have to go out there and do your best to get extra possessions because they can be crucial down the line in games like these."
Granville started slow thanks to River Valley's zone defense, but it started to loosen up after Meurer and Rush each hit 3-pointers late in the first quarter.
The Vikings cut an eight-point deficit to 30-27 at halftime, but Rush and Meurer went to work in the third quarter, attacking the basket at every opportunity. Rush had nine points and Meurer four points and two assists in the quarter as the Blue Aces built their first double-digit lead of the game.
"The first quarter we were kind of feeling out their zone, and we weren't being aggressive," Rush said. "When all of us started driving, everyone got open, and we started scoring."
Granville led 50-37 early in the fourth quarter before the Vikings rallied. Hempy and Wesley Rengert, who added 19 points, scored all of the Vikings' fourth-quarter points with the exception of Dustin Johns' tying layup.
"It was good mental fortitude to battle through some adversity there and kind of keep our wits and composure about us down the stretch when things didn't necessarily go our way and finish the game up on a strong note," Teeters said.
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