Teays Valley was strong out of the gate in both halves on Friday as it recorded an 80-53 Mid-State League Buckeye Division win over host Hamilton Township.
The Vikings wasted no time as they dropped 26 points on the Rangers in the opening stanza to take a 26-7 lead.
Sam Miller led the early charge with 10 points, while the Vikings used their full-court pressure to create a number of easy buckets on the other end.
“We played well on the defensive end tonight and that allowed us to get easier baskets at the offensive end of the floor,” TV coach Brian Barnett said. “Our pressure really bothered them early and in the third and fourth quarters. Defensively, we have been getting better, and tonight I thought we were able to see the results of some of the things we have been working on in practice.
“Offensively, we did a nice job of getting our posts the basketball where they could score, and took advantage of Hamilton’s lack of height. We were able to get 38 points in the post, which freed up some of our shooters.”
Hamilton Township fought back in the second quarter, shaving the Vikings’ halftime advantage to 39-28.
Teays Valley administered the knockout blow coming out of intermission with a 25-point outburst to make it 64-42.
The Vikings were very balanced in the period with Cameron Dyas-Rogers, Ryan Allton and Sam Miller scoring six points apiece and Jackson Smith accounting for five.
Dyas-Rogers led the Vikings on the night with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds. Miller tallied 18 points, Brayden Primmer turned in 12 and Allton had 10.
“Cam got his hands on a lot of passes tonight and his athleticism caused Hamilton a lot of problems,” Barnett praised.
The Vikings (10-12, 9-5) open tourney play on Tuesday at Newark.
Girls Basketball
New Hope 58,
Cristo Rey 10
A 20-point opening quarter allowed host New Hope to take charge in its OCSAA tourney opener on Friday and roll past Cristo Rey 58-10.
Maren McCallister and Jenna Tripp scored 16 points apiece and Eden Leist added 14.
The Stateswomen host Ross County Christian on Tuesday at 6 p.m.