“We had the attitude that we is bigger than me,” Parker said of the group effort. “I’m happy he’s back, I’ll say that.”
Rockhold was issued two technical fouls in a previous sectional blowout of Northwestern at Springfield.
Rockhold sat out while Trotwood mauled Northridge 96-49 in a sectional final and rung up a 78-60 defeat of Chaminade Julienne in a rare matchup and district final on Thursday night at the University of Dayton Arena.
»RELATED: 3 area girls earn top Southwest District honors
The win vaults Trotwood (23-3) and its 16-game win streak into a Division II regional semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Fairmont’s Trent Arena in Kettering. The Rams will play the Columbus South/Columbus Eastmoor Academy winner. Those teams will play in a Columbus 2 district final on Saturday.
In the other D-II regional semi at 8 p.m. Thursday it’s Cincinnati Hughes (23-3) against the Dunbar/Cincinnati Woodward winner. Dunbar and Woodward also will play in a district final at 3 p.m. Saturday at Hamilton High School.
»RELATED: Boys district final schedule/results
“As long as we’re surviving and moving on to the next game, we’re happy,” said Parker.
Trotwood and CJ, both long established area boys powers, hadn’t played since the visiting Rams defeated the Eagles 48-45 way back in December 2011.
Thursday night, Amari Davis had 22 points to lead Trotwood. Myles Belyeu added 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Carol Blanton, the coach’s son, added 12 points.
CJ (11-15) was paced by Gabe Turner’s 13 points and nine rebounds. Milton Gage added 12 points and Dominic Wilcox 10.
“We have a chance to be really, really good in the future,” veteran CJ coach Joe Staley said. “We just ran into a team that’s there right now.”
»RELATED: Dunbar wins court decision and sectional title
Cin. Hughes 57, Carroll 38: Hughes flexed its defensive might, limiting the Patriots to just eight first-half points in a D-II district final opener on Thursday at UD. Also coming out of the Springfield sectional, Carroll (16-10) couldn't get any offense going and was held to two first-quarter points. Hughes raced to a 34-8 first-half lead and the rout was on.
Carroll had a five-game win streak snapped. The Patriots were led in scoring by Eli Ramsey’s 13 points. Matt Cogan, son of coach Tim Cogan, added 10.
»RELATED: Carroll can’t find its offense vs. Hughes
• There will be four D-I boys district finals at UD Arena on Saturday. Wayne (23-1), Springfield (20-4) and Fairmont (16-9) will represent the Greater Western Ohio Conference. The Greater Miami Conference has Lakota East (16-8), Princeton (22-3) and Oak Hills (18-6). Out of the Greater Catholic League South are Cincinnati Moeller (22-3) and Elder (14-11).
All the winners advance to the D-I regional semifinals next week at Xavier’s Cintas Center. Divisions II, III and IV boys regionals will be at Trent Arena.
Princeton is facing a double-major handicap. Mr. Basketball candidate and senior Darius Bazley and another starter each were assessed two-game suspensions for leaving the bench after a hard foul in a previous defeat of GMC rival Sycamore. They can’t play again until a regional final, should Princeton qualify. Bazley signed with Syracuse.
»RELATED: Area players, coaches awarded top SW District boys honors
• Dunbar’s D-II district final was switched to Hamilton on Saturday because of a conflict at Trent Arena. Dunbar defeated host Woodward 84-73 on Jan. 2 during the regular season.
The Wolverines needed a court order to re-enter the tournament after the Ohio High School Athletic Association ruled Dunbar had used an ineligible player. Dunbar edged Fenwick 27-26 in a D-II sectional final Wednesday night at UD. Nine-plus minutes of the second half were spent with the Wolverines holding the ball and motionless.
The social media reaction to that oddity for a traditionally up-tempo City League and state power hasn’t been kind.
“We had to do what we had to do,” Dunbar coach Chuck Taylor said. “Fenwick had a zone that was packed in and we had to figure out a way to bring those guys out. It ended up working.”
»FACEBOOK: For more high school sports you should like Marc Pendleton
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