A total of five points separated Logan Elm and Teays Valley by the time the schools finished both their games at Day 2 of the Second Annual Brad Morris Holiday Classic with the Lady Braves prevailing in overtime and the boys holding off the Vikings in the final minutes.
Logan Elm 53, Teays Valley 52 OT (girls)
CIRCLEVILLE — Logan Elm led most of the afternoon, but Teays Valley wasn’t going to go home without a fight. The Vikings had a big fourth quarter to force overtime where LE was able to get on top and hold on for a 53-52 win.
LE coach Mike Schultz said he had told him team that playing a much bigger school in Teays Valley didn’t need to be a pressure game, but gave the girls a chance to enjoy basketball.
“That’s what I told the kids beforehand that let’s go ahead and get this out of our heads that this is a must-win game. This is not a must-win game. I said, let’s go out and have fun, because those fans are going to be in for a treat today,” Schultz said. “We’re giving the kids tomorrow off and this is going to be a good one to sleep on today.”
LE struck first in overtime on a three-pointer from Kimmy Petty 90 seconds in.
TV’s Areyana Karshner had a steal and a layup and Amelia Brumfield later hit one of two free throws to tie the game with 1:47 left.
While the teams were getting shots off, getting them to fall was another thing and the score stay tied until KiKi Ingram was fouled with five seconds left. The LE senior hit the first of two free throws.
She missed the second. Karshner got the rebound, went down looking for the game-winner but Ingram got in her way and knocked the ball away as the buzzer sounded.
“Having coach (Kevin) Kimbrough and coach (Tom) Congrove on the bench, they always are reminding me of being true to ourselves — be who we’re intended to be,” Schultz said. “We ran one of our sets that is successful as far as getting looks. And Kimmy came wide open on it. Those are those moments that we expect our shooters to shoot if you’re open.
“Kimmy, she stepped out a little bit today and did some nice things.”
A three from Petty to end the first gave LE an 11-10 lead and the Braves outscored TV 14-5 in the second quarter to lead 25-15 at halftime.
The Braves extended their lead to 14 in the first minute of the third, TV got as close as six and the quarter ended with LE leading 36-25.
The Vikings scored nine of the first 11 points in the fourth, got as close as a single point with three minutes left, LE pushed the lead back to six and TV made it 49-47 with a pair of Cami Robins free throws with 20 seconds left.
A steal by Areyan Karshner gave the ball back to TV with 11 seconds showing. Following a timeout, the Vikings ran a play that got the ball to Karshner who was fouled with .3 seconds on the clock. She stepped to the line and sank both shots to force an extra four minutes.
“As soon as I knew who we fouled, I was like this game is going to overtime,” Schultz said. “But the way we came out and just became who we are and who we are intended to be is pretty sweet.”
Petty hit four threes in the game, including a crucial one in overtime, as part of a 16-point night and being named Player of the Game for the Braves.
Ingram was LE’s top scorer with 20 points.
Kennedy Groff had 10 rebounds to go with five points and Palynn Wray pulled down eight boards to go with seven points.
Karshner had 13 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter to help send the game to overtime and was named TV’s Player of the Game.
Robins had 14 points and Tessa Horsley had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Logan Elm 53, Teays Valley 52 OT
Teays valley — Amelia Brumfield 0-1-1, Cami Robins 4-4-14, Areyana Karshner 8-3-21, Avery Mann 2-0-4, Allie Rice 1-0-2, Tessa Horsley 5-0-10. Three-point goals — Robins (2), Karshner (2). Totals — 20-50 8-12 52.
Logan Elm — Palynn Wray 3-1-7, Kimmy Petty 5-2-16, Kiki Ingram 5-9-20, Kennedy Groff 2-1-5, Gillian Savage 2-1-5. Three-point goals — Petty (4), Ingram. Totals — 17-49 14-19 53.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 OT F
Teays Valley 10 5 10 24 3 52
Logan Elm 11 14 11 13 4 53
Logan Elm 71, Teays Valley 67 (boys)
CIRCLEVILLE — Kelton Bennington poured in six three-pointers in the third quarter as Logan Elm flipped the scoreboard and held on for a 71-67 win over Teays Valley at the Brad Morris Holliday Classic played at Circleville High School.
The Vikings started the half with a 34-26 lead before Bennington went on his hot streak. By the time he put his sixth one down at the buzzer, the Braves had outscored TV 26-12 to take a 52-46 lead.
“Kelton Bennington – we trust him and he knows if he has an inch to let it go,” LE coach Nate Dropsey said. “We see it every day in practice, and there’s been a couple games where he hasn’t shot it real well, and teams have taken him away. But when he gets it going, he can get it going. So that was a heck of a third quarter.”
LE led by as many as seven three minutes into the final period but TV chipped away and a steal and layup from Brody Fields put TV on top 63-62 with 2:12 on the clock.
Owen Russell answered with a three for the Braves and then hit one of two free throws. Two free throws from Brady Neff has LE up 68-63 with less than a minute to go.
The Braves made it more interesting than they would have liked by converting on only three of six free throws in the final 30 seconds but those there were enough to secure the win.
“As you expect, It’s a dogfight down the stretch,” Dropsey said. “They’re longer than us in every position, but I thought our kids made plays when they had to. It wasn’t always pretty. I thought we showed a lot of mental toughness tonight, and got the ball to the right people, who we needed it in the hands of.”
Bennington had a total of seven three-pointers Tuesday (one shy of the school record) and finished with 24 points in earning Player of the Game honors for the Braves.
Neff added 20 points and Doren Patton had 10 for the Braves.
Jayden Morrison came out on fire for the Vikings with seven of their first nine points and grabbed their first four rebounds on the way to being named TV’s Player of the Game. He finished the night with 18 points.
Fields put in 20 points to be TV’s top scorer and Kaden Purdon had 11.
The Braves (5-3) get some time off to enjoy wins over two county rivals in the Brad Morris Holiday Classic and return to the hardwood on January 6 at Miami Trace.
“A couple wins in a row like that can go a long way, and I think our kids are starting to figure out what it takes to win,” Dropsey said. “And it’s not easy. It’s an everyday, every game grind, but when you keep working on the little things, and the fundamentals, you know, good things are going to happen.”
Teays Valley (4-4) has one more game before the calendar flips with a trip to Whitehall-Yearling coming up Monday.
Logan Elm 71, Teays Valley 67
Teays Valley — Jayden Morrison 7-0-18, Brody Fields 6-6-20, Tanner Smith 2-2-6, Calvin Wolpert 1-0-3, Kaden Purdon 5-0-11, Mitchell Combs 3-1-7, Lane Struckman 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Morrison (4), Fields (2), Wolpert, Purdon. Totals — 25-51 9-14 67.
Logan Elm — Zane Seimer 2-0-4, Kelton Bennington 7-3-24, Austin Holbrook 1-0-2, Doren Patton 2-2-6, Brady Neff 7-5-20, Owen Russell 3-2-10, Ethon Manson 1-3-5. Three-point goals — Bennington (7), Neff, Russell (2). Totals — 23-43 15-25 71.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Teays Valley 17 17 12 21 67
Logan Elm 9 17 26 19 71
