by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
ASHVILLE — It was what is to be expected from a rivalry game – both teams had the lead at one point, neither could pull away from the other and the outcome wasn’t decided until the final minute as Teays Valley held on to beat Circleville 53-48 Friday night.
“They are a load. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re physical, they’re athletic and caused us a lot of matchup problems,” TV coach Brian Barnett said.
Circleville had a fast start in getting out to a 10-4 lead before the Vikings came back to lead 13-11 after one.
TV scored the first seven points in the second to go up nine, but Circleville came back and closed to within two points before the half ended with the Vikings up 24-20.
“I thought we had really good practices leading up to this game and this is the first game where we finally had a good start,” Circleville coach Cody Carpenter said. “There in the second quarter we got down nine, then we continued to fight and battled back and were only down two and it ended up four.
“Our guys didn’t quit, they continued to battle.”
The teams traded baskets for most of the third with the difference bouncing back between three and five points, although Teays Valley had a seven-point lead for about 30 seconds before Circleville cut it back to five at 40-35, which is where it stood entering the final quarter.
The Tigers got the score to within two on a three-pointer form Briley Cramer to start the scoring in the fourth. CHS had a chance to tie but missed a set of free throws.
TV came back with a bucket from Sam Miller and three-pointer from Brody Fields for a seven-point edge.
Circleville’s Jack Kline hit the second of two free throws and the Vikings answered with an offensive putback from Cavin McDowell for a 47-39 lead. McDowell had four points in the game and five of his six rebounds came in the fourth quarter.
“Cavin causes problems defensively for a lot of people. He is so quick, and his first step is unbelievable,” Barnett said. “His ball handling skills are getting better, his shooting is getting better. His tip-in down here on the offensive end was unbelievable. I can’t wait to go home and watch it.
“He’s a tough kid and I think we have a lot of tough kids. And when you have tough kids, good things like this happen.”
Circleville cut the difference to six points on a Slater Search score and TV added a free throw from Kole Nungester. A three-pointer from Riley Jenkins with a minute to go made it a four-point game.
Miller then hit one of two free throws and Circleville got another bucket from Search to make it a three-point game.
Fields was fouled and sunk two with 21 seconds left. Search scored again with 15 seconds on the clock, but Nungester went to the line again with seven seconds showing and hit both to seal the win for the Vikings.
Nungester was the night’s leading scorer with 16 points for the Vikings.
Miller put in 13 as did Fields. Fields had 11 of his points in the second half as the Tigers did a good job keeping him under control in the first half.
“Jack Kline played a good overall game and played defense very well against the Fields kid, who is one of the top scorers in our league,” Carpenter said.
“They did a nice job on him in the first half. We got him a little loose in the second half, which helped out,” Barnett said. “He causes a lot of problems for the other team’s defense, but it opens up the floor for the other four guys.”
Cramer led Circleville with 15 and Ed Kirk had nine in the first quarter on the way to a 13-point effort.
Circleville ended the night with a 32-29 rebounding edge led by Search with 16. He also had seven assists.
“He’s sick right now and playing through it. He’s fighter,” Carpenter said. “Unfortunately, I told him that if Miller doesn’t go out, you don’t go out either, so you’ll just have to play through it. He impacts the game in so many different ways with his defense and rebounding.”
Miller led the Vikings with eight rebounds.
Circleville had nine turnovers in the game to only five for Teays Valley.
The Vikings (5-1, 4-0) head to Central Crossing Wednesday while the Tigers (3-3, 1-3) host Minford as part of the Holiday Classic.
Teays Valley 53, Circleville 48
Circleville — Preston Hulse 2-0-5, Briley Cramer 7-0-15, Jack Kline 2-1-6, Slater Search 3-0-6, Riley Jenkins 1-0-3, Ed Kirk 5-3-13. Three-point goals — Hulse, Cramer, Kline, Jenkins. Total — 20-48 4-8 48.
Teays Valley — Kole Nungester 6-3-16, Brody Fields 4-4-13, Luke Burgett 3-0-7, Cavin McDowell 1-2-4, Sam Miller 6-1-13. Three-point goals — Nungester, Fields, Burgett. Total — 20-51 10-13 53.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Circleville 11 9 15 13 48
Teays Valley 13 11 16 13 53
