By Brad Morris
SportingPumpkin.com
ASHVILLE — Teays Valley showed what a week of working on ball pressure can accomplish on Saturday by forcing 23 turnovers and cruising to a 53-22 Mid-State League Buckeye Division win over visiting Logan Elm.
The Vikings also held their guests without a field goal for the opening nine minutes and 20 seconds and just 6 of 27 (22.2 percent) shooting on the night.
“Our girls have put together a good week of practices and one of the things we really emphasized was using our defense to pressure the basketball,” Teays Valley coach Trevor Younkin said. “We’ve seen ball pressure from teams we’ve played against in the Central District, so it’s something we also need to start doing more as we approach the tournament next month.
“I was pleased with the results and the overall intensity and effort our girls played with defensively.”
The Vikings matched a strong effort on defense with a fast start on the other end of the court, knocking down 8 of their first 13 shots (61.5 percent), which included five three-pointers.
Teays Valley scored the first 16 points of the game before Logan Elm was finally able to reach the scoreboard with 1:39 remaining in the opening stanza when Brynn Griffith split a pair of free throws.
Ashley DeWeese led the first quarter charge with eight points and Alyssa Horsley also knocked down a pair of three-pointers for the Vikings.
“We wanted to come out and dictate the tempo of the game against a county rival and we were able to do that,” Younkin said. “Our ball movement was pretty crisp and we did a nice job of playing inside-out, which is something we haven’t been able to do as much lately, and knock down some open looks at the basket.”
Teays Valley owned a 10-3 rebounding advantage in the first quarter and went on to out-rebound Logan Elm 37-27.
The Braves missed their first nine shots from the field until Griffith ended the field goal drought early in the second quarter on a basket from the block.
Teays Valley took a 32-6 lead into halftime and then scored on its first four possessions of the second half to stretch its advantage to 42-6.
“We weren’t quite as sharp offensively when Logan Elm switched to a zone there in the second quarter, but our girls kept their patience and worked for good shots,” Younkin said. “I was pleased with the focus and intensity they came out of the locker room with and they were able to execute pretty well and continue to set the tone to start the second half.”
Alyssa Horsley and Ashley DeWeese paced the Vikings with 11 points apiece. DeWeese also dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds while Horsley chipped in five boards. Megan Bush and Jenna Horsley scored eight points, apiece, and Kennedy Younkin accounted for six points and seven rebounds.
Three players reached the scoring column for the Braves, led by Griffith with 11 points and also controlling seven rebounds. Riley Schultz tallied eight points and Anna Johnson tossed in three.
After a month between games, the Braves returned to the court with three games over the last five days.
“We’re obviously behind Teays Valley in games and practices with this being just our fifth game to their 12th, but I was pleased with the way our girls competed and kept playing despite getting off to a slow start,” Logan Elm coach John Denen said. “There is a lot going on off the court with COVID, the election and what went on in Washington this week and then trying to play catch up on the floor. We’ve handled the situation well as a school and we’ll continue to work to get better.”
The Vikings finished the game 20 of 45 (44.4 percent) from the field and had seven of their 15 turnovers in the fourth quarter as their reserves logged a bulk of the minutes.
Logan Elm (2-3, 1-2) continues league play on Wednesday at Hamilton Township and Teays Valley (7-5, 3-2) has a key league matchup on Friday when it hosts Liberty Union (5-2, 3-1).
Teays Valley 53,
Logan Elm 22
LOGAN ELM — Riley Schultz 2-4-8, Anna Johnson 1-1-3, Brynn Griffith 3-5-11. Total — 6-27 10-18 22.
TEAYS VALLEY — Aimee Watson 2-0-4, Jenna Horsley 2-2-8, Kennedy Younkin 3-0-6, Ashley DeWeese 4-1-11, Megan Bush 3-0-8, McKenna Kautz 2-1-5, Alyssa Horsley 4-0-11. Three-point goals — Alyssa Horsley (3), Megan Bush (2), Ashley DeWeese (2) and Jenna Horsley (2). Total — 20-45 4-7 53
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Logan Elm 1 5 5 11 22
Teays Valley 21 11 15 6 53
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