Alexander 61 ... Vinton County 60 a final

[pfloyd]

Alexander 61
Vinton County 60 ... a final

... Great game last night in McArthur between very good basketball TEAMS - the Spartans of Alexander and the Vikings of Vinton County ... I walked into the gym at VC and immediately ran into the coaching staff for the Vikings - Coach Kight, Coach Combs and Coach Carpenter ... I told Coach NJ Kight that this was the first time in almost 15 years that I had come to VCHS that I had no idea what kind of Viking basketball team I was going to see - Coach Combs jumped in and said "join us on the bench - we're not sure either" ...

I had the pleasure to sit with Kevin Wiseman - sports editor for the Athens Messenger - told me that he didn't think Alexander had won AT Vinton County in 10-15 years ... a rivalry game, a streak, an Alex team that is picked to finish above VC in the TVC Ohio for the first time in forever and a Vinton County team who on paper are the underdogs in almost every game they play this season - add up all of the side notes, the history between the 2 schools ....... throw it ALL in the trash ...THIS was a great game ! the TEAM (Alexander) favored - jumped out to the lead as expected - behind their smooth PG JK Kearns (7 pts in the qtr) - for the team 18 first quarter points (6 players dented the scorebook) while AHS big man in the middle (Caleb Terry) did what 6-10 big men do blocked 3 Viking interior shots ... while the AHS defense turned VC over 5 times in the opening quarter ... Alexander 18 Vinton County 10 after one ... the 2nd stanza had Alexander showing the whole TEAM arsenal - 10 players saw the floor, Terry went to the bench with 2 fouls but the Spartans didn't miss a beat on either end of the floor - offensively putting up 24 points/7 players scoring in the qtr / 9 different players scored in the first half / Kearns adding 3 triples upping his first half total to 13 points/3 treys in the half ... Vinton County looked to still be looking to find their "scorers" the "go to" guys - jr. Gavin Arbaugh stepped forward hitting 7 points in the 2nd qtr (9 for the half), sr. Ricky Body added a triple and VC's lone returning varsity experienced player Eli Griffith dented the score book with 5 points in the first 2 qtrs ... Alexander 42 Vinton County 26 at intermission ... enter Game #2 - as the first half ended (Game #1) Alexander looked to be THE TEAM - they are a complete, deep bench TEAM ... the coaching staff KNOW what the players contribute when they enter the game, I told Kevin Wiseman that AHS looked as good or better without the BIG MAN on the floor - don't get me wrong, 6-10 does matter being on the floor- he DOESN'T HURT AHS BEING ON THE FLOOR , but the Spartans have 7-8 scorers, they are fine when Terry goes to the bench ... they play aggressive defense, great ball movement, dribble penetration - they look to be a very good basketball team (I admit now after seeing them live - I have them too low in the rankings) ... the Vikings are a team looking for that something to hang their hats on- an identity ... in the 2nd half as fate would have it coming out of intermission - the Vikings found out who they are in the 2nd half - a quicker than quick defensive ball club - team speed hands & feet - Will Arthur/Austin Hitte ARE as quick as you will find anywhere especially on defense - outstanding ... Gavin Arbaugh IS the MAN - he will be outstanding the rest of the way for VC , Ricky Body is an excellent scorer on the perimeter HE TOO will be a perimeter scorer that opponents will need to find each trip down the court ... Eli Griffith will NOT play vs 6-10 every game - EG will have many double digit games his senior year ... quarter 3 Vinton County turned AHS over 5 times ... VC outscored Alex 17-10 ... defensively taking the ball out of Kearns hands (Kearns was shut out in both the 3rd & 4th periods- No points) ... defensively VC after giving up points to seemingly everyone who was on floor the first half (9 players) held AHS to 3 players scoring the 10 third qtr points for the Spartans ... Alexander 52 Vinton County 43 after 3 ... VC did what they HAD to do in the 3rd got the spread under 10 points (check - they did that) / turning up the defense in the 3rd had Alexander speeding up their own game/took them out of their own tempo comfort level ... the 4th quarter had Vinton County finding the "go to " guys - Body, Arbaugh, Griffith ... in crunch time these ARE the players VC needs to find - ALL 3 WILL GROW INTO THAT ROLL - from now on these 3 WILL LOOK TO BE "the guys" ... Hitte/Arthur/Arbaugh/Body/Montgomery/Griffith can defend as well as or better than anyone ... Alexander scored 2 fgs in the 4th period ... 4/7 from the FT line ... Vinton County 7 fgs/2/4 from the FT line ... at the 7:05 mark of the 4th VC had the score down to 48-52 AHS ... it seemed that each time VC had an opportunity to draw within 1 fg they had a crucial turnover (5 in the 4th) or a key foul against (ie. Montgomery took it down the left side of the lane, was bumped - scored the bucket AND ONE ! - nope the call went to Alex - take the points off the board and what would have been an & 1 to tie didn't happen ... 1:39 57-54 Alex ... 49.6 59-56 Alex ... 24.4 61-58 Alex ... an Arbaugh drive from the left wing into the paint for two ... 61-60 Alex 8.8 to play ... VC fouling JK Kearns ... to the line for 2 ...missed them both VC down court , an open mid range jumper from the right elbow ... off the front of the rim ... Alexander 61 Vinton County 60 a final ...


... Pfloyd's Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Vinton County

Scoring ... Gavin Arbaugh 20, Eli Griffith 15, Ricky Body 11, Lance Montgomery 7, Will Arthur 3, Ash Abele 2, Trafford Dunn 2
3 Pointers ... 5/14 ... Ricky Body 3, Gavin Arbaugh 1, Lance Montgomery 1
FTs .... 11/19
TOs ... 17
PnP ... 17 fgs/34 points in the paint
PnT ... 2 fg/4 points in transition


... Vinton County - I talked briefly to a gentleman after the game who was sitting behind me, he heard my comments to Kevin Wiseman all game about the Vikings & Spartans ... he said there's no good losses but that he thought VC played a good game - I told him that it was a great game for VC - even in losing - I felt that Vinton County had found themselves, they found their identity, they can now move forward KNOWING what they can do every time they take the court ... Coach Combs, Coach Kight, Coach Carpenter ! I KNOW what I will see when I take in a VC game now ! - I like the Vinton County Vikings that emerged last night vs Alexander ... the adage - you better get them now holds true ! this VC TEAM will improve on what they found out about themselves last night - Body/Arbaugh/Griffith WILL not hesitate offensively - they should be a little greedy with the ball , THEY are the scorers on the TEAM ... Arthur/Hitte quick defensively, now will work on adding to their offensive game as BOTH get to the rim - learning to get there a little more under control so they can finish at the rim - that's 12-16 ppg combined in those 2 players in the paint beating their defenders off the dribble ... I wish the Vikings the best going forward ... pfloyd WILL see this group again sooner than later in the season ...


...Pfloyd's Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Alexander

Scoring ... JK Kearns 13, Dylan Mecum 12, Stone Markin-Irwin 8, Matthew Brown 8, Kameron Riley 5, Kaleb Easley 5, Tyler Rice 4, Caleb Terry 4, Trey Schaller 1, Luke Chapman 1

3 Pointers ... 5/14 ... JK Kearns 3, Dylan Mecum 2
FTs ... 12/20
TOs ... 14 ... 2 in the first half /12 in the 2nd half
PnP ... 16 fgs/32 points in the paint
PnT ... 2 fg/4 points in transition

... Alexander is a very good TEAM ... all of the pieces - a 6-10 Big Man, 7-8 players who can score the ball each game ... can play with or without the BIG in the game ... outstanding PG in Kearns, Dylan Mecum wants the ball and finish both inside and outside - good player ... lots of good pieces on this TEAM ... good basketball TEAM ... it will be interesting to see how the Spartans do vs the strength & physicality of Athens (the other favored team in the TVC Ohio) ...

[Ironman92]

No surprise VC made adjustments and rallied.

Does Alexander stillwin the award largest difference in height of assistant coaches? Last year had a 5’4 and a 7’2...I enjoy stuff that doesn’t matter.

Also Hitte for VC a talented XCrunner that can literally never get tired during a basketball game. I imagine Combs uses him wisely.

[pfloyd]

No surprise VC made adjustments and rallied.

Does Alexander stillwin the award largest difference in height of assistant coaches? Last year had a 5’4 and a 7’2...I enjoy stuff that doesn’t matter.

Also Hitte for VC a talented XCrunner that can literally never get tired during a basketball game. I imagine Combs uses him wisely.

... he did use Hitte well in the 2nd half - pulling Body at times to give VC the opportunity to double on Kearns on the perimeter - Hitte/Arthur/Arbaugh/Montgomery trapping on the perimeter - it was outstanding ... you're right I92 the kid does not tire !!!

[Reds Fan]

got to see this one live as well. it was a classic thats for sure, Great write up as always!

[pfloyd]

got to see this one live as well. it was a classic thats for sure, Great write up as always!

... thanks Reds Fan ! it WAS a very good game ! Coach Combs and his staff have put together an excellent group of players even without varsity experience they will be a force in the TVC Ohio ... Athens is beating a good Chesapeake team as I post this down at Fairland HS in the Big E classic - so Athens will have even their record to 2-2 after the first full week of action ... Alexander vs Athens will be a great game to see - 2 completely different teams one a finesse type team in Alexander and Athens - big, physical ball club ... that will be fun to see LOL ...

[mattash]

Great write up

[Ironman92]

How many times has Alexander won at VC since Combs took over?

[pfloyd]

How many times has Alexander won at VC since Combs took over?

... I92 ... Kevin Wiseman of the Athen Messenger seemed to think that even though Alex won the TVC back in 2005 or 2006 they split home and home that year ... it didn't sound like Alex has won AT McArthur during the Combs Era until last night ... KW was going to check with his sources on all of that - he may have put it in his write up for the game ... I personally don't know the answer I92 - if anyone knows it's Kevin or maybe 93bulldog ...

[SportsRule]

I am pretty that Coach Gabriel won multiple times at VC around the time Jake Hale was a Spartan during the Combs era.

[SportsRule]

There was a stretch of games that I seem to think that they won on each other’s court.

[Ironman92]

There was a stretch of games that I seem to think that they won on each other’s court.

This was my memory but also just how I’m thinking I recall it