River Valley boys basketball rallies, but falls short

• River Valley rallied from 13 points down to tie Granville late.
• Wesley Rengert scored 19 points and assisted on the tying layup in his final game.

GRANVILLE – River Valley leaned on its two most experienced players Monday night just as it has all season.

Danyon Hempy and Wesley Rengert did their best to extend that season by at least one more game. The duo combined for all but two of the Vikings' fourth-quarter points as the Vikings came up just short, falling 61-57 to host Granville in a Division II district first-round game.

Rengert was consistent throughout, scoring in every quarter and finishing with 19 points. Hempy caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points as River Valley rallied from a 50-37 deficit.

"You hate to go out, but (Rengert) went out with his best game of his high school season. I am real proud of him for that," coach Steve Comstock said. "(Hempy) is like that every night. He plays real solid basketball."

Seventeen teams, including River Valley, had a winning record at the time of the tournament draw in early February. The Vikings (13-10), who were a 16 seed, showed to be far better than that.

Sixth-seeded Granville (18-5) appeared to finally shake free of River Valley in the third quarter before the Vikings came storming back. Hempy hit a trio of 3-pointers during the fourth quarter, and the Vikings also turned up their defense, forcing Granville into seven turnovers.

"In the first half, we fouled too much, but in the second half, we didn't until we had to at the end," Comstock said.

Trailing 54-52, Rengert fired a pass from the left wing to a waiting Dustin Johns on the right block, and Johns' layup tied the game with 1:40 left. Granville, however, answered with a Scott Herb basket, and the Vikings managed just a Hempy 3 in the final seconds the rest of the way.

Hempy's big fourth quarter allowed him to match his average for the season with a team-high 25 points. Granville's Austin Rush had game highs of 26 points and eight rebounds.

"You want to compete with the best," Rush said. "(Hempy) was a great player, so you have to give him credit. He made some clutch shots to keep his team in it. You want to play against that type of player."

Granville, which starts three seniors of 6-foot-3 or better, won the game with its rebounding. The Blue Aces had a 32-22 edge, and Rush, himself, scored five times off second or third chances.

"The story of the game is they beat us on the boards," Comstock said. "We paid the price for it."

The Vikings committed just 10 turnovers, but they hurt their cause, missing five point-blank shots at various times during the game.

"We missed one the first play of the game, and they were sprinkled throughout," Comstock said. "In a close game, you would love to have some of those back."

With Granville leading by three points and seven seconds left, the Blue Aces were set to shoot two free throws when Comstock was whistled for a technical foul. Comstock argued the officials used improper form when one of the Vikings was charged with his fifth foul.

It is the second consecutive season the Vikings have been eliminated from the tournament in heartbreaking fashion. This season, however, was a bit of a surprise as only Hempy and Rengert returned with significant varsity experience.

The Vikings lost six consecutive games after a 10-3 start, but they finished strong, winning their final three regular-season games, setting themselves up for what could be a special 2015-16 season.

"The kids have really good attitudes, and they work hard," said Comstock, whose team graduates just Rengert and Avery Meadows. "We had five sophomores on the roster, and hopefully we will learn from some of our lumps and lessons this year."

ksnyder@gannett.com

740-328-8556

Twitter: @newarkurt