BROOKVILLE — Not satisfied with just being unbeaten, Brookville Raiders head coach Dalton Park is aiming for bigger things and stronger performances.
That’s what the agenda was for his Raiders going into this week’s home games with West Branch on Wednesday and Brockway Friday night.
And Park, who coached his Raiders to the PIAA Class AAA state final, likes what he saw in the two wins. After Wednesday’s 63-32 win over West Branch, the Raiders routed the visiting Rovers 60-21 Friday night.
They haven’t been 12-0 since the perfect regular season run from 1987-88, but Park is looking to be ready for the big run at the end regardless of record.
“We were 10-0 going into the week and didn’t feel the kids have been playing to their potential,” Park said. “They’ve been playing well at times, just not solid and what they can do. I know that’s being greedy, but I know what these kids are capable of and we’re not playing to that level.
“I didn’t feel like we were playing hard like our brand of basketball, so I divided them into two groups with our depth and each group was going to get four minutes with six kids on each and if someone jogged through the middle or down the floor or if was an effort thing … you were coming out and the next guy was coming in. And I’ll tell you what, I thought we played some really good basketball this week. I’m very pleased with the week.”
And he’ll continue to look seriously at his shift work moving forward.
“We’re good, but other teams are really good too,” Park said. “If we would face a team like Ellwood City (WPIAL champion from last year the Raiders beat in the quarterfinals), we want to be ready. We can’t take plays off, five guys all the time. That’s what we were shooting for this week.”
The Raiders led the Rovers (3-11) 15-0 after the first quarter and Brockway ended the drought with a Alex Carlson free throw nine seconds in the second quarter. His 3-pointer at the 6:55 mark was the Rovers’ first field goal of the game.
The Raiders led 36-7 by halftime, outscoring the Rovers 21-7 in the second quarter, then reached the PIAA Mercy Rule’s running clock at 40-9 when Griffin Ruhlman completed a three-point play with 5:55 left in the third quarter.
Ruhlman and sophomore Jack Pete each scored nine points to lead an obviously balanced scoring charge with 13 of the 16 Raiders who got into the game finding the scoring column. Clayton Cook finished with seven points and six rebounds, Hunter Geer scored six points.
The Raiders shot it well, 22-for-39 (56.4 percent) and outrebounded the Rovers 33-11 while forcing 19 turnovers. Brockway shot 6-for-29 (21 percent) from the field.
Dylen Coder led the Rovers with 10 points off the bench, eight of them coming in the fourth quarter.
The Rovers had starter Jared Marchiori ejected from the game in the third quarter after a scramble for a loose ball. By PIAA rule, he could miss the next two games.
Both teams are back in action next Wednesday, the Rovers at home against DuBois Central Catholic and the Raiders on the road at Punxsutawney.
BROOKVILLE 60, BROCKWAY 21
Score By Quarters
Brockway 0 7 5 9 — 21
Brookville 15 21 16 8 — 60
Brockway –21
Jared Marchiori 0 0-0 0, Alex Carlson 1 2-3 5, Marcus Bennett 0 0-2 0, Noah Adams 0 0-0 0, Aiden Grieneisen 1 1-2 3, Dylen Coder 3 2-2 10, Reese Yahner 0 0-0 0, Joe Hertel 1 0-0 3, Micah Williamson 0 0-0 0, Landon Schmader 0 0-0 0. Totals: 6 5-9 21.
Brookville –60
Noah Peterson 2 0-0 5, Ryan Geer 0 0-0 0, Garner McMaster 1 0-0 2, Connor Marshall 2 0-0 4, Griffin Ruhlman 3 3-3 9, Jack Pete 4 0-0 9, Jamison Rhoades 1 0-0 2, Danny Lauer 0 4-4 4, Hunter Geer 2 2-2 6, Ian Pete 2 1-2 5, Clayton Cook 3 0-0 7, Isaac Hetrick 1 1-1 3, Riley Smith 0 0-2 0, Chandler Hughey 0 0-0 0, Charlie Krug 1 0-0 2, Jack Knapp 0 2-2 2. Totals: 22 13-16 60.
3-pointers: Brockway 4 (Carlson, Hertel, Coder 2), Brookville 3 (Peterson, J. Pete, Cook).
