by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
BERLIN — Teays Valley battled with one of the top-ranked teams in the state on Saturday with a cluster of three-pointers in the third propelling No. 8 Archbishop Hoban to a 45-38 win at the Classic In the Country.
“We want to keep gaining experience for the state tournament and that’s why we’re here,” TV coach Trevor Younkin said. “We put a quote out this week how experience is a teacher — she’ll give you the test first and the lesson later. I told them, that’s the purpose of this. We’ve got to get ready, learn from this and apply it to the tournament.”
The Knights (11-2) brought a style of play the Vikings (9-6) don’t get to see too often.
“A lot of the teams we face – they don’t have the speed, they don’t have the athleticism, they don’t have the pressure, so this gets us ready for the tournament,” TV senior Kennedy Younkin said. “The Columbus schools, that’s what they do, they have that speed, they have those key guards who are able to frustrate. By seeing that, our guards know what to do and, especially me, I need to find that open spot to help our guards.”
It was that speed up top that helped Hoban keep the Vikings in check much of the game.
“Definitely their guard play, their speed, their ability to frustrate our guards and to allow them not to throw it into me,” Kennedy Younkin said. “A lot of times we run an offense where it’s get it into me and I’ll kick it out if I’m not open. Their speed definitely frustrated us.”
The lead went back and forth toward the end of the first half with the teams tied 17-17 at the break.
Early in the third quarter, the Vikings had a 21-20 lead when the Knights converted on a trio of three-pointers to go up 29-21.
After the Vikings added a basket, Hoban put in another three which gave them a 32-23 edge heading into the fourth.
“We tried to pack it in and did a 2-3 because we looked at the stats and saw that most of their shots were taking place inside around the hoop, so we figured let’s pack it in and let’s eliminate those shots,” Kennedy Younkin said of getting the lead in the second and early third. “Unfortunately, (Finley Kennedy) got hot and was shooting outside.”
The Hoban junior had two of those threes as part of a nine-point effort off the bench.
Sophomore Niera Stevens led Hoban with 10 points.
The Vikings were led by Younkin and Alyssa Horsley as the seniors each finished with 14 points.
“It’s just one of those things – I told them before the tipoff that I really love them, and they deserve to be here,” coach Younkin said of getting his seniors and the team into an event like the Classic being played at Hiland High School outside of Berlin. “It’s just a powerful moment and one I’ll never forget. I’m proud to be their coach and they deserve to be here.
“That’s what we talked about — is coming up here enjoying the atmosphere and getting a taste of it. I brought some freshmen along – I wanted them to see what it’s like so they understand.”
The Vikings had nine players get three or more minutes of action Saturday.
“We had a couple other girls to step up,” coach Younkin said. “Avery Mann is a freshman post player. She doesn’t normally back Kennedy up but, with Kennedy getting two fouls, we had to go with her. She came in and got a bucket for us, got a couple good stops, got a big rebound.
“We knew we had to play more than just seven players. We had to play some players who might be in different roles, and they stepped up in this atmosphere and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
TV had a 37-31 rebounding edge led by Younkin with nine but suffered from 24 turnovers.
Archbishop Hoban 45, Teays Valley 38
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Teays Valley 6 11 8 13 38
Archbishop Hoban 7 10 15 13 45
The complete box score and stats from the game will be available here.
