Davis Nets 1,000 Career Point to Help Rocky Grove Beat Oil City in Boys Short Street Motorcars Title Game

| December 30, 2016

Tyler Davis Rocky GroveOIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – If you paid the price of admission for Thursday night’s Boys Short Street Motorcars Tournament championship game between Rocky Grove and Oil City, you got your money’s worth.

(Photo of Rocky Grove’s Tyler Davis, who scored his 1,000th career points in the win over Oil City Thursday night. Photo courtesy of Teresa Perry)

After a low-scoring first quarter, which Rocky Grove led 8-6, the tempo picked up, and the Orioles pulled out a 51-43 win.

Rocky Grove senior Tyler Davis netted his 1,000th career point with under a minute to play, as the Orioles were putting the game on ice at the charity stripe. He entered the game 19 shy and finished with a game-high 20 points to give him 1,001 career points.

“It was a pretty big accomplishment that I’m thankful to achieve,” Davis said. “I’d like to thank my parents and my family, especially my dad [assistant coach Jeff Davis] for being there for me through everything, spending countless hours with me in the gym.”

The first quarter saw the two team combine for 14 total points. Then, in the second quarter, both teams scored 12 apiece to send the teams into the locker rooms with Rocky Grove ahead 20-18. Davis scored eight of his 20 before the halftime intermission while junior big man Travis Perry led the way with nine points and 10 rebounds.

This was a rematch of last year’s title tilt, where Oil City handled Rocky Grove with ease. This year was a different story.

Orioles head coach Ryan Umbenhaur didn’t want to call this a revenge game, but said it was nice to return the favor.

“They didn’t beat us last year, they put it to us” Umbenhaur said. “It feels really sweet. It wasn’t a revenge game. They just played really well last year, and we didn’t. But it does feel great to come up here and get that monkey off our back.

Oil City’s Jahmeer Jordan was plagued with foul trouble in the first half, but provided the spark the Oilers needed in the third quarter. Jordan scored eight of his team-high 11 points in the third frame.

Oil City fought tooth and nail with the Orioles, but in the end, it was the Grove that put the finishing touches on the game, mostly at the free throw line, where the Orioles had the advantage all night.

Oilers coach Mark Cochran thought his team battled, but the first couple of quarters didn’t go as planned.

“We treated the fourth quarter the same as you should the first and second quarters,” Cochran said. “You can make those mistakes in the first two quarters, but in the fourth, you have to slow it down and look for good shots.”

Rocky Grove pounded the ball inside to Perry and fellow junior Conner Curran, which Cochran credited them for doing.

“They (Rocky Grove) did a great job and finally realized we aren’t real strong inside,” Cochran said.

Perry finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds while Curran, who had foul troubles of his own in the opening half, finished with 12 points. Perry is one of the team’s most versatile players in the way he scores, rebounds and blocks shots.

“Travis [Perry] just locked it down,” Umbenhaur said. “He brings a lot with his length and he had a couple key buckets.”

Rocky Grove entered the contest averaging around 70 points per game, but the Oilers were able to hold them to 51.

Umbenhaur was pleased with how his team was able to grind out a victory.

“I think it started on our defensive effort,” Umbenhaur said. “I was a little worried coming in, because if there is an Achilles’ heel that we have, it’s to kind of being a little lax on the defensive end. We flipped that today, and I thought we did a great job defensively.

“Offensively I thought we had some growing pains, so to speak. Conner [Curran] got in foul trouble and we got a little out of sorts, but I think once the nerves wore off, they really came on strong.”

Curran often acts as the team’s point-forward, something Umbenhaur credits him for.

“He’s like a second point guard out there. He just sees the floor so well. He had a couple big buckets late and he did fantastic,” Umbenhaur said of his junior big man.

Despite the loss for Oil City (1-5), Cochran sees the improvement of his team in the early goings of the season, thus far.

“We’re getting better,” Cochran said. “We played Sharon down to the wire and we get to the end of the game, and we just have to learn to slow down and play calm and relaxed.

“That’s a really good Rocky Grove team. They’ve played together a long time and are going to go places.”

Rocky Grove (7-1) will return to action Jan. 3 when they travel to Lakeview while Oil City will host rival Franklin in the Route 8 Rivalry Game on the same night.

Story by Eddie McDonald

Box Score

Rocky Grove

Davis 5-7-10-10, T. Perry 6-4-5-16, Curran 6-4-5-16, T. Clayton 0-0-2-0, E. Francic 0-3-4-3, Kirwin 0-0-0-0, Rodemoyer 0-0-0-0, Winslow 0-0-0-0, S. Perry 0-0-0-0, Bruner 0-0-0-0, J. Heasley 0-0-0-0, M. Heasley 0-0-0-0, Knupp 0-0-0-0, G. Francic 0-0-0-0, Z. Clayton 0-0-0-0 Total: 15-18-26-51

Oil City

Lantz0-0-0-2-0, Duprea 1-0-0-2, Jordan 5-1-2-11, Cochran 1-0-0-2, Mizerak 2-4-4-8, Chapin 2-0-0-4, Highfield 0-0-0-0, Homer 3-1-2-9, Haun 0-0-0-0, Stahlman 0-0-0-0, Thompson 0-0-0-0, Gostes 0-0-0-0, Manning 2-3-4-7 Total: 16-9-14-43

Three Pointers

Rocky Grove 3 (Davis 3)

Oil City 2 (Homer 2)


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