Lady Vikings beat Trimble 45-44

[The_Intimidator]

MCARTHUR - Vinton County junior Tori Dixon demands the basketball and why not?

Known for her outstanding perimeter skills, Dixon can also score from the inside and she is definitely the one player you don't want to put on the free throw line when the game is on the line.

Dixon, who scored a game-high 17 points, made a pair of clutch free throws with one second left to lift the Lady Vikings to a 46-44 win over Trimble on Monday.

It didn't appear that the Lady Vikings (2-1) were going to be lucky enough to survive the final minute and a half with Trimble leading 42-39 with 1:34 left. But Vinton County rallied behind Dixon, who scored five of her teams' final seven points.

With the game knotted at 44-44, Trimble had a chance to play for the last shot and the win. But Brittany Stewart came up with a steal and fed a pass out to Dixon on the break for what appeared to be the go-ahead basket with four seconds left.

However, Vinton County head coach Courtney Hale called for a timeout just before the shot.

"We knew we had to get the ball into Tori's hands," said Hale after the timeout. "She was having a fantastic game and she is our playmaker. It worked out like we wanted and Tori sank a pair of big free throws for us."

And that she did after receiving the inbounds pass and was fouled by Trimble's Jessi Spears, with just one second left on the game clock.

Trimble, who totally dominated the glass could not compensate for its poor-shooting and turnover filled night. The Lady Tomcats shot only 32.6 percent from the field, including 43 percent (9-of-21) from the free throw line and committed 24 turnovers. However, they out rebounded the Lady Vikings 46-23, including 24-9 on the offensive boards.

"We just got killed on the boards and we addressed that at halftime," Hale said. "I challenged them to go out and out rebound them in the second half. We didn't reach that goal but we did a much better job at keeping the margin close."

The Lady Tomcats made Vinton County work hard for the win. They never trailed in the first quarter and led by as many as five points early in the game.

But Vinton County recovered and went in at the half with a 28-26 advantage.

Trimble relied mainly on the perimeter shooting of Katlyn Walton, who scored 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half.

Walton, who was 5-for-8 in three-point field goal attempts, finished with a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Tomcats. Spears, along with Sierra Lenigar added eight points apiece and point guard Taylor Savage had 10 rebounds and six assists.

The Lady Vikings shot 43 percent from the field, including an impressive 81 percent (13-of-16) from the free throw line and committed only 14 turnovers for the contest.

Adrienne Saylor scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds for Vinton County before fouling out of the contest with 43.2 seconds left. Brittany Stewart finished with nine points, including seven rebounds and four steals and Chrissie Rice chipped in with seven points for the Lady Vikings.

Hale also liked the play of her point guard Chelsey Taborn, who only had two points, but dished out five assists and had four rebounds.

"She is so critical toward our success and as long as Chelsey is running the show and taking the ball to the basket, we know good things are going to happen," she said. "Tonight, she definitely did that."

In the junior varsity game, Myrriah Mace and Alyssa Fields scored 10 points apiece and Kim Kazee added eight to lead Lady Vikings past Trimble 44-35.

Vinton County will begin a two-game road trip, with the Tri-Valley Conference opener on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Nelsonville-York High School, followed by a non-conference game against Circleville at the University of Rio Grande on Friday.

THS 14 12 8 10 - 44

VCHS 13 15 8 10 - 46

TRIMBLE (44)

Kendra Shaner 0 0-0 0, Taylor Savage 0 1-5 1, Chelsey Kinnison 2 2-6 6, Jessi Spears 3 2-2 8, Katlyn Walton 5 1-2 16, Carly Campbell 1 0-0 2, Sierra Lenigar 3 2-4 8, Schyler Shaner 1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 15 9-21 46; 3-point goals: 5 (Katlyn Walton 5).

VINTON COUNTY (46)

Myrriah Mace 0 1-2 1, Brittany Stewart 3 2-2 9, Allison Graves 0 0-0 0, Adrienne Saylor 3 3-4 10, Chelsey Taborn 0 2-2 2, Tori Dixon 5 4-4 17, Chrissie Rice 3 1-2 7, Kelsey Griffith 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 13-16 46; 3-point goals: 5 (Tori Dixon 3, Brittany Stewart 1, Adrienne Saylor 1).

[bballnut]

w

With the game knotted at 44-44, Trimble had a chance to play for the last shot and the win. But Brittany Stewart came up with a steal and fed a pass out to Dixon on the break for what appeared to be the go-ahead basket with four seconds left.

However, Vinton County head coach Courtney Hale called for a timeout just before the shot.

"We knew we had to get the ball into Tori's hands," said Hale after the timeout. "She was having a fantastic game and she is our playmaker. It worked out like we wanted and Tori sank a pair of big free throws for us."

And that she did after receiving the inbounds pass and was fouled by Trimble's Jessi Spears, with just one second left on the game clock.

What the article doesn't tell is the bad call at the end of the game 1.1 sec to go

Trimble had the game.

Stewart did get the steal BUT she TRAVELED which WAS called by the ref THEN the time out was called. They ignored the travel and gave them the ball on their end of the court instead of half court where it should have been. If the time out was called before the travel then the ball had to be spotted where it was called.

THEN on the "foul" Dixon FELL into Spears and the ref behind the play called a foul with 1.1 sec to go.
Trimble shooting percent was low and the game wouldn't have come to the last second if they shot better. BUT a ref should not make the difference.

Vinton is a very good team. It was a hard fought game. Credit to both teams.


Just my thoughts!

[Pol pot]

That is life on the road in the TVC.....hell go to Belpre and see the large officials jersey hanging on the end by the Banners that declare their state tournament runs, there is a 6' Officials jersey with the sign "6th Man" under it.

Several schools in that league are bush when it comes to officiating! Why is the TVC the only SE Ohio League not to have a league assigner?

[bballnut]

Pol Pot

Good question!


anybody know the answer?

[freakintheseat]

I saw this game, and what I saw was.....Spears trying to block Dixon, Dixon going around Spears, then Spears moving into the driving path of Dixon, tripping her and knocking her down. That's a foul. The Nelsonville TV staion was there, watch the game.

Great job Lady Vikes!!

[bballnut]

DID see it on tv! channel 15 played it a few times.
same conclusion each time. Dixon fell.

Like I said.
If trimble shooting had been on it wouldn't have come down to the end of the game and a BAD call..
Too bad we can't play again. I believe is the better team.


Good job Lady Cats!