by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
On a night when neither team could wrestle control from the other, Teays Valley was able to take the lead in the final seconds and hold off Circleville for a 47-44 win Saturday.
TV entered the final period with a 35-33 lead and had it up to 41-36 before Circleville got a basket from Slater Search and then a three-pointer from Briley Cramer to tie the game with 1:40 left.
The Vikings went back on top with a three from Kole Nungester but Circleville senior Preston Hulse answered with a three of his own to tie the game again with 52 seconds on the clock.
Working the clock, the Vikings made their move and Nungester drove the lane and scored with eight seconds.
TV still had two fouls to give before Circleville was in the bonus and used them to get five more seconds off the clock.
The Tigers inbounded again with 3.2 showing but were whistled for a travel call with one second left. They fouled TV on the inbounds play and Owen Hoffhines hit one of the two free throws to end the game’s scoring.
“We talked about taking a Euro step there to get around them and that’s what Kole did to score a bucket,” TV coach Brian Barnett said. “Then we talked, after they called a timeout, that we had fouls to give and the goal was to allow them to go about two or three dribbles and then foul, two or three dribbles and foul to get them across half court.”
“We expected that,” Circleville coach Cody Carpenter said. “Hat’s off to them, it was a couple of smart plays. We felt like we had a chance and wanted the ball in our best player’s hands and, unfortunately, it just didn’t fall for us tonight.”
Nungester led the Vikings with 15 points, Brody Fields had 11 and Sam Miller had nine.
Cramer led the Tigers with 20 points Saturday night and Hulse had 14.
Circleville got out to a 13-5 lead to start the game, thank to three threes from Hulse in the period. TV finished the quarter with a basket from Fields and a three from Kaden Purdon to close to 13-10 at the end of the period.
TV scored the first seven points of the second and the game was tied 23-23 at the half.
Circleville managed to get up 31-26 with three minutes left in the third, but TV outscored the Tigers 9-2 to end the quarter with a 35-33 edge.
Coming off their first league loss on Tuesday and playing in Circleville, Barnett knew his team needed to be focused and ready for a tough game.
“We knew we had to come in locked in and ready to go. For the most part, I thought our kids did that,” he said. “Our ball pressure at the end there was really good.
“Every game we’ve played except for one, has been exactly like that so our kids know how to win. And it’s all of them because they’ve been there before.”
Circleville helped its cause in the first quarter by forcing five Vikings’ turnovers.
“Leading up to this game, I thought we had three really good practices and had a good game plan. The kids did a really good job executing that game plan early and gave us a nice lead,” Carpenter said. “Teays Valley has too many weapons and they were able to come out and make a run. We weathered that storm, and we made a run back and it was tied at halftime.
“I felt like our defense got a lot better, that we made them take some difficult shots. We don’t expect to hold any team to zero, but every possession they have to earn it and I thought we did a better job of that tonight.”
TV finished the night with a 25-21 rebounding edge with Miller grabbing six. Search led Circleville with nine.
Teays Valley (13-4, 10-1) returns to the court Tuesday night at Groveport-Madison and Circleville (9-9, 3-8) heads to Athens Wednesday.
Teays Valley 47, Circleville 44
Teays Valley — Kole Nungester 6-0-15, Brody Fields 4-2-11, Luke Burgett 1-0-3, Owen Hoffhines 1-1-4, Kaden Purdon 2-0-5, Sam Miller 4-0-9. Three-point goals — Nungester (3), Fields, Burgett, Hoffhines, Purdon, Miller. Total — 18-42 3-6 47.
Circleville — Preston Hulse 5-0-14, Drew Thornsley 1-0-2, Briley Cramer 9-0-20, Slater Search 3-0-6, Ed Kirk 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Hulse (4), Cramer (2). Total — 19-42 0-1 44.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Teays Valley 10 13 12 12 47
Circleville 13 10 10 11 44
