It was a Back to the Future type night on Tuesday for the Teays Valley boys basketball team.
The Vikings closed the regular-season with former Mid-State League Buckeye Division and future Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division rival Canal Winchester and returned home with a 65-57 win.
Brody Fields led the Vikings with a game-high 29 points, Sam Miller followed with 16, Kole Nungester had eight and Ryan Allton tossed in seven.
“Brody had a great game, leading the way for us with 29 points, and Sam continued his really strong play,” Teays Valley coach Brian Barnett said. “Kole was solid on the defensive end of the floor and on the offensive end continues to get the ball to the right players when they are open.
“Ryan had a nice night on both ends of the court and Brayden Primmer, again, was just really solid for us with five points and some rebounds.”
The Vikings (15-7) claimed an early lead and several times pushed their advantage to nine or 10 points, but were not able to put away the Indians (4-17) until the closing minute.
Fields started his hot shooting night with seven points in the first quarter and Nungester chipped in three to help the Vikings out to a 16-14 lead.
Teays Valley stretched its advantage to 35-28 at intermission, with Miller leading the way with six points and Fields following with five.
“One of the best things about the first half was all five starters scored in each period,” Barnett said. “We have been very balanced all season long, with four guys averaging double figures, and it makes it hard for opposing teams to concentrate on one player or two for that matter.”
Canal Winchester cut its deficit to four points before the Vikings were able to push their lead back to six entering the fourth quarter.
The Vikings stretched their lead to 10 points in the fourth, but the Indians refused to go away and trailed by as few as three points.
Teays Valley eventually closed the game out at the charity stripe to post a seven-point win.
“It seemed like all night we would push the lead to nine or 10, but you have to give Canal Winchester credit for continuing to battle and hitting a few big baskets to get back into the game each time,” Barnett said. “Give our guys credit for how they battled all night and never let Canal’s runs bother them.”
Fields scored 10 points in the final stanza, including going a perfect 6 for 6 at the free throw line.
Colin Minerd scored 13 points and Diante James added 12 for the Indians.
The MSL-Buckeye co-champion Vikings open tournament play on Tuesday when they host Hilliard Darby (7-14) for a sectional semifinal.
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