Vinton County (10-2, 4-0) at Athens (10-2, 2-1)

[hawkeyepierce]

Skinner can't complain about the officiating tonight.

Let me be the first and unequivocally state, that the officiating did NOT cost the Vikings this game.

VC was perfect from the free throw line tonight and still lost

That is funny, Dundas. To let people in on the joke, the Vikings did not shoot a free throw tonight. Athens only committed five fouls on the night.

We lost in the first half. We were not aggressive on defense, got out-rebounded, and once we were not getting our customary trips to the line from attacking the glass, we settled for jump shots. Give Athens credit, they were disciplined enough not to foul once we got to the paint and when we were in a position to rebound, despite being bigger and more physical than us.

[hawkeyepierce]

and hill was slapping the hell out of burrow. vc was too short to get fouls when the ball is being spiked out of bounds. vc did play well. kept it slow

First, we don't have a "Hill" to slap the hell out of anyone. As the unofficial/official stat keeper for the Vikings; I had the Bulldogs with only three blocks in 58 Vikings shot attempts. By the way, the Vikings had one block. The Vikings were doomed with unofficial (I will wait to review the film) 32% from the field.

[Gib25]

The Bulldogs shot 20-56 from the field(35%) was 2-3 from the foul line through three quarters. They ended up 8-13 when Vinton County was forced to foul late in the game. Burrow and Watson had 13 points, Elmore and Saltzman had 9, Summers 7, and A. Luehrman had 1 point. For Vinton County, Kidd had 11(8 in the first 3 minutes of the game), Walton had 9, Remy 8, B.Owings 6, Smallwood 5, A. Owings 3, and Smith 2. I had Athens outrebounding the Vikings 39-25. Great crowd and both teams played good defense. Sometimes that leads to shooting that is not up to par. Summers for Athens and Walton for Vinton County played well off the bench. Rematch should be another good one.

[Raider6309]

and hill was slapping the hell out of burrow. vc was too short to get fouls when the ball is being spiked out of bounds. vc did play well. kept it slow

First, we don't have a "Hill" to slap the hell out of anyone. As the unofficial/official stat keeper for the Vikings; I had the Bulldogs with only three blocks in 58 Vikings shot attempts. By the way, the Vikings had one block. The Vikings were doomed with unofficial (I will wait to review the film) 32% from the field.

kidd, thought his last name was hilll. dont bring the refs into it when your tallest kid is 6'. i thought athens should have won by 12 to 15 but we go too much in cruise control

[pfloyd]

Athens 52
Vinton County 44 final

... I couldn't stay away from THE game in the TVC tonight - Athens vs Vinton County ... 2 of the the heavy weights in the Tri Valley Conference PLAYED like 2 teams feeling each other out for future reference ... neither AHS or VC lit up the scoreboard BUT one point WAS made tonight "size DOES matter" - Athens overall size/length at virtually all positions was the difference tonight ... the Athens size/length advantage is one that won't go away before the rematch in McArthur, if anything the size difference could get wider as Ryan Leuhrman (6-3) remained sidelined by injury for tonights contest ...

... the first quarter opened on a positive for Coach Combs' Vikings as senior Jordan Kidd hit for VC's first 8 points with a midrange jumper followed by back to back three's ... Vinton Co. 8 Athens 2 early BUT 3 minutes does not a game make - Athens was patient, Athens hit on a couple treys of their own (Saltzman/Summers) more importantly Athens showed it's size advantage on the boards getting 2 put back buckets in the quarter ... Athens never trailed once it took the lead ... for Vinton County Jordan Kidd after hitting VC's first 8 points was held to 1 fg the rest of the game ... Athens 13 Vinton County 10 after one quarter ... quarter two was a battle of attrition as Athens hit for 9 points - getting 3 fgs in the paint while holding VC to 2 fgs/5 points ... Athens 22 Vinton County 15 at intermission ... the Vikings claimed their only victory of the evening as they outscored the Bulldogs 15-13 in the third ... sparked by senior Tyler Walton's 2 reverse layups and the midrange shooting of LB Remy VC pulled within 4 points (22-26) forcing an AHS timeout with 4:25 left in the quarter ... Athens regrouped, coming out of the timeout riding their size advantage in the form of Jared Elmore - Elmore scored on 3 straight possessions on the blocks (7 points in the quarter) ... Athens 35 Vinton County 30 end of the three ... Any thoughts of VC making a comeback were squelched early as Athens with the opening possession in the quarter put the ball in Joey Burrows hands for a smooth 2 from the foul line, followed by an Ibi Watson three pointer- game , set and match as Athens hit on 6/9 FTs down the stretch ... Athens 52 Vinton County 44 final ...


... Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Vinton County ...

Scoring : Jordan Kidd 11, Tyler Walton 9, LB Remy 8, Bryce Owings 6, Matt Smallwood 5, Alex Owings 3, Per Smith 2

3 Pointers: 6/21 ... Kidd 3, Alex Owings 1, Smallwood 1, Walton 1

FT's : 0/0 ...

TO's : 12

... as posted - size was the difference in this one ... Vinton County NOT getting to the line showed their inability to get into the paint, when they did shots were altered and/or blocked ... Athens did an excellent job of keeping VC off the FT line as AHS committed but 5 fouls for the game ...


... Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Athens ...

Scoring : Joey Burrow 13, Ibi Watson 13, Zacchia Saltzman 9, Jared Elmore 9, Sawyer Summers 7, Adam Leuhrman 1

3 Pointers : 4/20 ... Ibi Watson 2, Summers 1, Saltzman 1

FT's : 8/12 ... 6/9 in the 4th quarter ...

TO's : 10

... Size matters/length matters ... I scribbled on my napkin in the 2nd quarter when VC was held to 2 fgs by the Athens defense "one and done" - VC was getting one look/one shot ... as I pointed out Athens has the potential to get "longer" as Ryan Leuhrman is hoped to be ready for the rematch in McArthur ... just a thought - VC hosts Logan Tuesday night - wonder if we will see some different lineups for VC as Coach Combs looks to work in some size of his own in this non-league game while prepping for the Bulldog rematch down the road ??? ...

... on a side note - it was good to get a chance to talk a little hoops with Coach Skinner during the JV game! thanks Coach for taking to time to chat with this old grizzled hoop fan ...

[Skiisme]

VC did not shoot well tonight and Athens played their size to their advantage all game. VC needs to watch this film and see how they played well when they got the ball inside and faked before they shot. Athens always jumped and Tyler Walton showed the team how to do it with several layups in the fourth quarter. Looking forward to the rematch in VC!!! Good clean game from both teams tonight.

[93Bulldog]

The pump fake is an effective move ... and lost art in todays game for sure.

good observation skidaddy.