MOUNT VERNON — Six-hundred-and-thirty-three days.
That’s how long it had been since Hudson Rohler had played in a varsity basketball game.
Mount Vernon head coach Nick Coon notified his senior point guard of this earlier in the week, as the hours ticked down to the Yellow Jackets’ season opener Wednesday night against Centerburg.
But Rohler didn’t need a reminder. The pain; the heartbreak; the patience; the grind. He’d felt it all in the 16 months since he tore his ACL, an awkward landing during a summer open gym costing the all-conference floor general his junior season.
Rohler had fought his way back to this point – where he would be able to take the floor, once again, with his teammates. His brothers. And where he would be able to do what he does best – driving and scoring and dishing and defending – all at maximum effort, with no reservations, in an effort to win games for his school.
Rohler said he had the shakes heading into Wednesday’s opener. Six-hundred-and-thirty-three days is a long time, after all.
But he was ready. He had battled; he had endured; he had won.
And as the pre-game clock hit zero, and Mount Vernon broke its huddle, Rohler stepped back onto the court. Back with his teammates; back under the lights; back in front of The Hive.
He played like he was making up for lost time.
Rohler dominated on both ends of the floor, tallying a game-high 21 points and leading Mount Vernon to a 57-39 season-opening win over Centerburg.
The Yellow Jackets (1-0) took the lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back, using suffocating ball pressure and relentless offensive rebounding to pull away from the Trojans (0-1), who won the first regular-season meeting between these schools last year by 10 points at their place.
“To be honest, I didn’t care if he played good, bad, ugly. It was just awesome to see him back out there, because I know what it took to get back out there,” Coon said of Rohler. “And we had him (playing) in the spring and summer and pre-season, but it’s still different than getting him in front of a whole crowd and in the game.
“It was just cool to see. He’s worked at it, to get back to this point. And I think with him, the main reason he worked at it is just to get back out there with his friends and his teammates. Because he cares about those guys a lot.”
QUICK START: Rohler made his presence felt immediately on Wednesday. He scored the game’s first four points – and eight of Mount Vernon’s first 10 – on an array of dazzling drives. He stole the ball twice, leading to transition lay-ins, and then went to work in the half-court, finishing twice more through contact to set the tone.
This aggressive start allowed the senior’s nerves to dissipate quickly.
“It felt amazing,” Rohler said afterwards. “You know, from the start, I was very nervous. I was shaking a little bit. But after the first two lay-ins, I was like, ‘You know what? I’m feeling good.’ And I felt just like I (did) my sophomore year.”
The Yellow Jackets led 15-11 after one quarter. But Centerburg kept fighting. The Trojans narrowed the deficit to 21-20 with 2:46 left until halftime, using a disciplined half-court approach and playmaking from senior Colton Martin to stay within striking distance.
That all changed, however, when Rohler subbed back in.
The senior, who played the whole first quarter and sat to begin the second, led Mount Vernon on a 10-0 run to close the half. He immediately rattled off five straight points, taking two steals coast-to-coast and converting a free-throw to widen the margin.
Senior Cooper Carpenter then added back-to-back buckets – on a driving lay-in and a tip-in after three Yellow Jacket offensive rebounds – to make it 31-20 at intermission.
“We kind of knew that Centerburg would probably have the game plan to try to slow the pace a little bit,” Coon said. “(Centerburg head coach John Marhefka) does a great job with those guys over there, and they had the pace probably where they wanted it for a quarter or a quarter-and-a-half. And then, you know, credit to our guys for getting the tempo going, starting at the defensive end.
“We made that little spurt, probably the second half of the second quarter, to kind of widen that gap and get some momentum going into halftime.”
SMOOTH SAILING: The second half featured more of the same. Mount Vernon’s full-court pressure continued to bother Centerburg, leading to turnovers, contested shots and points on the other end.
The Yellow Jackets hurt the Trojans on the offensive glass as well, as a five-man rebounding effort led to numerous second-chance opportunities.
Marhefka said his team simply couldn’t adjust quickly enough to stop the bleeding. He chalked some of this up to inexperience.
The Trojans, winners of three straight Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference titles, graduated seven seniors and three starters from last year’s team. They return just two varsity lettermen this season – Martin and point guard Grayson Reynolds – while welcoming eight new faces to the lineup.
Mount Vernon, meanwhile, returns five letterwinners and three starters from last year’s 11-12 team.
“I would say it’s probably young mistakes we made, just not knowing rotations yet and everything else,” Marhefka said. “Early on in the game, I think we were a little more focused. And I think sometimes when you see that scoreboard (change) and things start happening, that momentum shift just goes and it’s hard to get it back, especially if you haven’t been there before.
“I mean, some of these guys had no varsity experience (coming into tonight). There was one time (where) I think I had four sophomores on the floor. That’s a tough row to hoe with that experience.”
Mount Vernon took a 44-30 lead into the fourth quarter, then coasted from there. The Yellow Jackets opened the final period on a 13-4 run, using swift ball movement and timely drives to pick apart Centerburg’s half-court trapping defense.
The Trojans would score three times in the game’s closing moments to set the final margin.
“To get revenge – not really revenge, but just get back at a team that beat you last year – just gave us all the confidence in the world. …” said Rohler, who had to watch last year’s 63-53 loss to Centerburg from the bench.
“We (want to) win a bunch of games and get better along the way. Obviously, this is a great win against a great team, but we know we have to step up and actually make a few shots. We only made three threes tonight; it was pretty difficult. But we just (need to) make some shots and win some basketball games.”
BY THE NUMBERS: Rohler led Mount Vernon with 21 points on Wednesday, while senior forward Trevor Buttke added nine and senior guard Ben Bridges added seven. Nine Yellow Jackets scored in the season opener.
“We feel like we’ve got a lot of guys that can go make plays,” Coon said. “So we just give ’em the framework to play within, and then we trust that they’re gonna go make plays and make the right reads.”
Mount Vernon made just three shots from beyond the arch Wednesday, but still won by 18 points, using a combination of transition and second-chance buckets to fuel the effort. Coon said the team’s defense allowed its offense to thrive against Centerburg.
“We actually shot it really bad from three tonight,” he said with a chuckle. “But we’ve talked a lot about that over the last couple years with this group, and you’ve gotta find other ways to be able to win basketball games when we’re not shooting it well from three.
“We can’t just say, ‘Hey, if we shoot it well, we’ll win, and if we don’t shoot it well, we’re gonna lose.’ We have to find other ways. And we did tonight through our defense.”
Centerburg was led in scoring Wednesday by Martin, who tallied 12 points. Sophomore Jack Lawrence added 8 points, while sophomore Trevin Harris had 6 for the visitors.
Marhefka hopes the Trojans will be able to use Wednesday’s loss as a learning experience moving forward. Centerburg will open KMAC play next Tuesday with a home game against Northmor.
“I told them to stay positive, keep their heads up,” Marhefka said of his team. “There are a lot of good things (from tonight). But I asked them what we need to work on, and they know. And it’s stuff that we’ve been emphasizing in practice. So what do they want? What’s the challenge that they want to get to? They know it, and it’s game one of the season.
“And give Mount Vernon (credit); I mean, I knew they were coming after us, and they have seven seniors, three juniors, one sophomore. And they’re playing composed. They had a good summer. Coach Coon’s doing a good job. Those boys played tough. So that’s what we’ve gotta do. We’ve gotta pick up ours.”
Marhefka said limiting turnovers and offensive rebounds will be key moving forward.
“We’re young. But we can work on that,” he said. “We’ll get through it. We’ve gotta go back to the grind on Tuesday.”
Mount Vernon, meanwhile, will hit the road next Wednesday to take on Johnstown in a non-conference matchup (it will kick off Ohio Cardinal Conference play at Ashland next Friday). Coon said the Jackets will have plenty to improve upon following this week’s win.
“I think it’ll be good just to watch the film. Off the top of my head, it’s just cleaning up some of those careless turnovers, where we’re not maybe as aggressive as we should be with the ball. Defensively – and I know we only held them to 39 points – but there were a couple lapses that we’ll be able to pick out on film that we can’t have, as we continue down our path of this journey, this season,” Coon said.
“Overall, (it was) good to get a win going into the holiday, but it’ll definitely be good to see the film, clean up some of those things, and we know we’ve got a long ways to get better, which is good. We should want to get better, and we do. We have guys that want to.”
STORYBOOK RETURN: But the story Wednesday revolved around Rohler.
Mount Vernon’s senior point guard – in his first game since Feb. 26, 2021 – dazzled spectators. He served as the Yellow Jackets’ main spark plug, both offensively and defensively, creating buckets on one end and turnovers on the other.
But it was his fearlessness that stood out the most. After a grueling, year-long recovery process, Rohler played Wednesday as if he’d never been injured.
He was quick, aggressive and tenacious. He drove to the basket seeking out contact – and he got it, sometimes ending up in the first row of the bleachers as a result. He was the first on the floor for loose balls, and he crashed the glass on every possession. He sprinted up and down the court, rushing from trap to trap with active hands.
He didn’t wear a knee brace. It would have been the only sign he’d suffered an injury in the first place.
“My doctor, when I had surgery, told me not to be scared. And he’s a really good doctor, so I have to trust him,” Rohler recalled with a smile. “They didn’t want me to wear a brace, my dad didn’t want me to wear a brace, and all my therapists said, ‘Don’t wear a brace because you’re just gonna favor it.’ And not favoring it makes me just more aggressive and not play passive.
“I’ve never really played passive, so being aggressive, getting back into that mentality is very good for me.”
It was a dream-like return for Rohler, who drew chants from the student section at various points throughout the night. He pumped up the crowd, celebrated with his teammates, and spent most of the evening with a grin on his face. Afterwards, he posed for pictures with friends and family, commemorating the long journey back.
Rohler finally made his way off the court around 20 minutes after the final horn. And when he did, he made sure to make one final stop: at the end of the bench, where his team trainer, Tyler Ruhl, was packing up for the night.
Ruhl had been there for Rohler since the day he got injured. He had worked with him on the sideline during practices, helping him regain strength and mobility in his battered right knee. He had helped him make a full recovery – their work together on full display Wednesday night.
Rohler approached Ruhl with an ear-to-ear grin and outstretched arms. They dapped each other up in celebration.
“Thank you,” Rohler told Ruhl.
This had been a long time coming.
