Both Rock Falls and Mendota made big runs in Monday’s nonconference game at Tabor Gym. It was the Rockets who finished on a tear.

Z’Viyon Martin nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing with two seconds left to send Rock Falls to a 67-65 victory, erasing a 15-point Trojans lead.

“It’s everything for him to come up in that situation and hit that shot. We just love him, and he’s a big player on our team. He can hit shots every time, and we always trust him with the shot,” Max Burns said about Martin.

“It was huge, a really big hit for us,” Cole Mulnix added. “We needed that shot, and all props to him – and the pass to him – to step up and hit it.”

The sideline inbounds play was drawn up to first look for Mulnix on a slip to the basket, then Burns off a high screen. But when the Trojans had both options covered, Cole Heald passed it in to Owen Mandrell, who found Martin on the wing. With no hesitation, Martin hoisted the shot and nailed it.

“It was drawn up for Cole to the basket, then Max to set an elevator [screen] for him. We didn’t run it correctly to get those open, but everything happens for a reason,” Martin said. “He came off that elevator, Owen caught the ball and I was open, and Owen trusted me enough to hit that shot, so just as much credit goes to him as it does to me.

“And all the credit to Max for putting us in that position.”

Burns took over down the stretch for Rock Falls (4-6), scoring 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help erase a nine-point deficit over the final 4:30.

“We were down and had to come back, so I just wanted to get a spark for our team,” Burns said. “We worked as a team, and I just had the open shots and lanes to the basket. It all starts with energy on the bench and throughout the team. … We don’t get down on ourselves or each other. We just fought back, and that’s the story of our team. We don’t give up.”

Mulnix carried the load for Rock Falls in the first half, scoring 13 of the Rockets’ 28 points before the break.

But Cole Tillman was a one-man wrecking crew for Mendota (5-2), pouring in 34 points from all over the court. He scored inside and outside, making 14 of his 19 shots and hitting all five of his free throws while also adding team highs of seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

“Inside or outside, we just stick to what we’ve been coached, and that’s what we did all game,” Tillman said. “We were just going to the mismatches, sticking to what we were getting points on, looking for easy buckets. That was good for us, until we started going away from it at the end.”

Mulnix scored nine straight points early in the second quarter, finishing the flurry with a 3 to put the Rockets up 21-11 with 4:18 left before halftime.

But Tillman sparked the response for the Trojans with a bucket and a three-point play, then Aden Tillman nailed a 3 before back-to-back baskets from Dane Doyle. Oliver Munoz’s layup with 2 seconds left capped an 18-7 run and put Mendota up 29-28 at the break.

The Trojans then went on a 20-6 run out of the locker room to build a 49-34 lead with 1:05 left in the third quarter.

But Burns opened the fourth with a three-point play before buckets by Martin and Mulnix to get within six. A 3 by Doyle and a bucket by Cole Tillman pushed Mendota’s lead back to 56-47 to set up the Rockets’ 20-9 surge down the stretch.

“The mindset was to just keep fighting. We’re never out of the game, and we’ve just got to keep pushing until that final buzzer goes off,” Mulnix said. “It was just about movement. We moved the ball really well and then we were cutting off of that and creating more action.”

Mulnix (9 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks) and Burns (3 rebounds, 2 assists) both scored 19 points, and Heald (5 rebounds), Martin (4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) and South (2 rebounds) added eight points each for the Rockets, who hit 10 of their 13 shots and all seven of their free throws in the fourth quarter. Evan Laws added a clutch 3 with 2:42 left.

“We had great team chemistry tonight. We’re an inexperienced team, but we love to play, so we’re going to come out and play hard and be who we are,” Martin said. “Basketball is a game of momentum, so all we had to do was get one or two stops and now their heads are down, and that’s when we really take it to them. We did a really good job tonight of playing our game, not letting them speed us up.”

Doyle had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists for Mendota, with Munoz (2 assists) and Drew Becker (3 rebounds) scoring six points apiece. Aden Tillman added five points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.