By Brad Morris
SportingPumpkin.com
Despite losing to perennial Division I Central District power Hilliard Bradley 50-39 earlier in the week, Teays Valley coach Brian Barnett felt his team showed a lot of growth playing for just the second time in 25 days.
“The focus and intensity we played with and the way our kids competed is exactly what we are looking for over the rest of the season,” he said. “A lot of people don’t understand why we play a team like Hilliard Bradley, but we grew up a lot as a basketball team against them and that showed our kids what we need to do to compete against a team like that. The final score ended up being 11 points, but that was a two possession game for a lot of the night.
“Our goal is to get to a district final and if we are going to do that then we are going to have to go against teams like Hilliard Bradley.”
The Vikings carried that focus and intensity back into Mid-State League Buckeye Division play on Saturday and used a strong start to cruise past host Circleville 75-51.
Camden Primmer made his first five shots during the first quarter and went on to pour in a game-high 26 points. Cameron Dyas-Rogers followed with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds and Peyton Weiler also tossed in 10 points to go with four rebounds and seven assists.
“I wasn’t hitting anything in the warm-up, so I kinda surprised myself when I knocked down my first couple of shots,” Primmer said. “I felt hot and I wanted to keep shooting the basketball.
“We did a good job of moving the basketball and we built off our energy from the game against Hilliard Bradley earlier this week.”
The Vikings put the game away with a run of 15 straight points in the opening stanza to take a commanding 18-2 lead.
Primmer ignited the decisive run by knocking down his second three-pointer of the quarter and then laid in two more points off a Circleville turnover.
The Teays Valley senior went on to score five more points on a putback and another bonus ball, and Dyas-Rogers brought the run to a thunderous conclusion with a dunk.
“Each one of those shots Camden hit was in rhythm or he was able to set his feet,” Barnett said. “We have a couple of kids who stay after practice to get extra shooting in and a couple of others who come in early, and Camden is one of those kids. You can see that extra work paying off and making a difference.
“Camden is our glue guy. When we need a big shot, a big stop on defense or anything, we are going to turn to Camden.”
Teays Valley made 7 of 14 (50 percent) shots during the first quarter, owned a decisive 9-2 rebounding edge over Circleville and also forced six turnovers.
“We knew we had an advantage in size over Circleville, but we’ve been inconsistent so far boxing out for rebounds,” said Primmer, who scored 13 points in the first quarter. “Everyone bought in and we did a nice job of boxing out and controlling the boards.”
The Vikings went on to stretch their lead to 34-17 at halftime and 53-31 going into the fourth quarter, where it led by as many as 32 points.
Teays Valley finished the night 31 of 63 (49.2 percent) from the field and owned a dominating 31-16 advantage on the boards, including 11 offensive.
“When we spread and floor and made Circleville guard in space, I felt we did a really nice job of running our offense and knocking down shots,” Barnett said. “This was also one of the few times we’ve been able to get out in transition so far, and Peyton Weiler did a nice job of making good decisions during those opportunities.”
Circleville converted 19 of 46 (41.3 percent) attempts from the field and went on to turn the ball over just six times over the final 24 minutes.
Ethan Moore paced the Tigers with 15 points and five rebounds, Evan Justice accounted for 13 points and six rebounds and Craig Fleck tossed in nine points to go with five assists.
Both teams step back outside of league play this week, as the Vikings (2-3, 2-2) travel to Dublin Jerome on Tuesday and the Tigers (2-6, 1-3) host Miami Trace on Wednesday.
Teays Valley 75,
Circleville 51
TEAYS VALLEY — Cameron Dyas-Rogers 4-2-10, Jack Kennedy 1-0-2, Luke Sachs 3-0-6, Bret Wilson 2-2-7, Peyton Weiler 4-2-10, Jackson Smith 2-0-4, Eli Burgett 3-0-6, Camden Primmer 10-1-26, Liam Sachs 2-0-4. — Camden Primmer (5) and Bret Wilson. Total — 31-63 7-11 75.
CIRCLEVILLE — Drew Moats 1-0-3, Evan Justice 3-5-13, Trevor Coleman 1-0-2, Briley Cramer 1-0-2, Ethan Moore 7-1-15, Craig Fleck 3-2-9, Ian Warden 3-0-7. Three-point goals — Evan Justice (2), Drew Moats, Craig Fleck and Ian Warden. Total — 19-46 8-10 51.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Teays Valley 19 15 19 22 75
Circleville 7 10 14 20 51
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