by JACOB MEREDITH / sportingpumpkin.com
ASHVILLE — Hamilton Township used a big second half to down league-leading Teays Valley 71-63 Friday night.
An evenly matched first quarter saw Teays Valley and Hamilton Township knotted up at 15 after eight minutes. Sam Miller led the Vikings in the quarter with six points and he also led the Vikings with 27 on the night.
The two teams were still tangled up at 27 after 16 minutes of play. Josh Woods led the way for the green and gold with seven points in the quarter with other scores coming from Jovon McBride, Packett and Kadan Ahr. Brody Fields downed three jumpers in the quarter to lead the Vikings, Luke Burgett added a score and Miller tallied two buckets before hitting the locker room at the half. TV took a hit though when starting guard Kole Nungester left with an injury in the period.
Then an explosion came for Hamilton Township as McBride dropped 20 of his game-high 31 points in the third quarter as the Rangers outscored the Vikings 29-17 in the period.
“We knew they were going to give the ball to Jovon, our plan was to collapse on him and make him dish it out, but he found the open player and they hit the shots or just scored himself,” Teays Valley coach Brian Barnett said.
Miller championed the Vikings’ effort with 10 in the period as HT got out to a 56-44 lead.
“Our kids battle and we are never out of a game. We could be down 10 or 20 but we still battle and keep fighting,” Barnett said. “We some had players tonight that stepped up and hit shots who normally don’t see a lot of time and I was happy for that.”
The Vikings outscored the Rangers 19-15 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to catch their opponents.
A strong quarter from Hamilton’s Hamidou Diallo, who had three baskets and a free throw, led the Rangers in the fourth along with five more from McBride. Miller and Owen Hoffhines led the Vikings with six each in the fourth. Hoffhines would hit two big threes for Teays Valley and one of those cut the lead to five late in the quarter.
“It was a tough loss at home. We had a good crowd, and we were fired up but a few things we didn’t plan on didn’t go our way and we lost players,” Barnett said. “I give Hamilton credit – they hit the boards on us and were more physical than us.”
Along with his 27 points, Miller grabbed 13 rebounds for the Vikings. Fields finished the night with 16 points, Purdon had 10 and Hoffhines had eight.
Along with the 31 from McBride, Diallo and Wood each had 11 for HT.
Their second setback in the league this season, the Vikings (13-6, 10-2) have a one-game lead over Bloom-Carroll (13-7, 9-3) with MSL contests remaining with Amanda-Clearcreek Tuesday and at Logan Elm Wednesday.
Hamilton Township 71, Teays Valley 63
Hamilton Township — Nick Tuff 2-0-5, Kadan Ahr 1-0-2, Josh Woods 4-1-11, Brad Butcher 1-0-3, Jovon McBride 9-10-31, Packett 2-1-6, Jayden Jarrell 1-0-2, Hamidou Diallo 5-1-11. Three-point goals — Tuff, Woods (2), Butcher, McBride (3), Packett. Total — 25-13-71.
Teays Valley — Brody Fields 7-0-16, Luke Burgett 1-0-2, Owen Hoffhines 2-2-8, Kaden Purdon 4-0-10, Sam Miller 12-3-27. Three-point goals — Fields (2), Hoffhines (2), Purdon (3). Total — 26-5-63.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Hamilton Township 15 12 29 15 71
Teays Valley 15 12 17 19 63
