Zane Trace 38 a final
... The Vikings and the Pioneers played the early matinee game this afternoon - made it a quick turnaround for both teams as each played and won games Friday night before squaring off in Viking Country ... I was more than surprised that I was able to slip into VCHS without being escorted out as I have watched Coach Comb's VC ball club twice and both times the end result was the Vikings taking an "L" ... Today's game with Zane Trace on paper looked to be a big test for the Vikings as Coach Kellough's squad has been stingy with the points - only allowing 37 ppg to their opponents ... Vinton County has struggled getting their full compliment of starters on the floor at the same time - today STILL missing Eli Griffith from the lineup - Eli Griffith WAS in uniform, went through warm-ups - the Vinton County Vikings that I had ranked in the top 8 teams of Southern/SouthEast Ohio is getting much closer to being on the floor at the same time ... after watching Vinton County play the BEST defensive game they have played all season in the first two quarters vs ZT (holding the Pioneers to 2 points in the first and 9 in the 2nd for a first half total of 11 points) the movie phrase from Independence Day "I'm baaack!!!" came to mind as I sat in the cheap seats ...
... Vinton County took ZT out of the game right from the start as the Vikings played a sticky man to man, holding ZT to only 2 pts in the quarter and forcing 8 ZT turnovers , while VC's weapons of Naylan Yates and Jake Speakman put up 12 of the Vikings 14 1st qtr scores ... Vinton County 14 Zane Trace 2 end of one ... Qtr 2 had ZT show their only real scoring threat in the game PG Cam Evans (5 points in the 2nd) with his ability to get into the lane ... this turned out to be THE offense for ZT as after the first half Evans scored all but 4 of the ZT fields goal in the 2nd half for Coach Kellough's squad ... continuing the scoring from the first period VC's duo of Speakman & Yates split the scoring in the 2nd with Jake netting 4 pts (8 in the half) /Naylan 5 in the 2nd (13 in the half)... Vinton 27 Zane Trace 11 at intermission ... The 3rd quarter was fun to watch as we were presented with the Naylan Yates (VC) vs Cam Evans (ZT) show or the NOW (VC/YATES) vs the FUTURE (ZT/Evans) ... Yates dropped 14 pts vs Evans 10 pts in the 3rd quarter ... the game within the game was pretty close to how this one ran in the TEAM game as well Vinton County (21 pts in the 3rd) vs Zane Trace (15 pts in the 3rd) .. no matter which game you choose to look at Vinton County was the winner ... Vinton County 61 Zane Trace 38 a final ...
... Pfloyd's Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Zane Trace ...
Scoring ... Cam Evans 21, Isaac Beam 11, Jeremy Lambert 2, Gabe Odell 2
3 Pointers ... 0/7
FTs .......... 10/16
TO's ..... 16 with 8 of those coming in quarter #1 ...
PnP ..... 14 fgs / 28 points in the paint
Transition Points ... 2 fg/4 pts
... I had a nice chat with Coach K prior to the game ... he is happy with the progress his team is making ... he is doing EXACTLY what he did at Chillicothe in leading the Cavs to a state title ... EXACTLY what he started in Logan ... he is doing it ALL over again now back with Zane Trace ... he is teaching the fundamentals, starting with the defensive end of the floor - his ZT boys were holding opponents to around 37ppg coming into this one , he is teaching the offensive end now ... I scribbled on my napkin stat sheet "deja vu" - the ZT team is exactly where he had the Logan boys when he was at Logan 2 years ago - the defense was there but the kids are struggling offensively - the kids are thinking instead of reacting, it isn't 2nd nature to them ... yet ... they WILL get there ... Coach Kellough KNOWS how to put a PROGRAM together ... ZT has the right combination of youth & experience ... kids with length, size, an excellent PG to run the show for 2 more years that has good PG size & strength with the ball ... the Pioneers will be a force this year, and for years to come ... look for ZT to be around the Elite 8 for the foreseeable future ...
... Pfloyd's Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Vinton County ...
Scoring .... Naylon Yates 34, Jake Speakman 14, Bryce Damron 6, Nevan Yates 3, Shawn McCarty 2, Cameron Hammon 2
3 Pointers ... 5/11 ... Naylan Yates 4 , Nevan Yates 1
FTs ........ 6/15
TOs ...... 7
PnP ..... 17 fg/34 pts in the paint
Transition Points ... 3 fg / 6 pts in transition
... I was smiling the whole game watching VC play today ... seeing a team getting closer to what I thought they would be in the preseason ... the Vikings aren't there yet ... the final piece has yet to hit the floor and worked his way into the rotation - Eli Griffith ... the man to man VC defense for the first 24 minutes of the game was good to see ... VC went a zone in the final quarter due to Evans finding his way into the paint for some easy buckets or going to the FT line ... Bryce Damron/Cameron Hammon both had good games defensively ... they were 2 for 2 offensively with a little hi lo game with the bigs - I liked it ! ... BD in the game made getting into the paint by Evans not the best route to go, when Damron got into foul trouble & on the bench in the 3rd is when Evans became the only option for ZT going into the paint scoring 16 of his 21 points when BD was on the bench ... I'm still looking for the 3 headed monster of VC BIGS ( Damron/Hammon/Griffith) to show up soon - the 3 bigs were OUTSTANDING vs Bloom Carroll in the the first game of the season at both ends of the floor - once the BIGS make their presence felt at both ends, with strength on the boards VC will be the force I felt they could be in my pre-season picks ... Jake Speakman could have had 20+ points today ! he got to the rim at least 6 times but could not finish ... more positives : the defensive effort in the first half might be the best I've seen this year from any team , Naylan Yates as good as Jake Speakman IS, Naylan Yates is THE piece of the puzzle that determines if VC gets the W or the L on our pocket schedules , he IS the POY/MVP period ... negatives : there are still stretches in the game when not enough people touch the ball offensively , quick shots, one on one basketball when the VC offense would be better served with working to get the better shot when folks are in positions to rebound or take passes at the rim off of penetration by JS - that one is my view from the Cheap Seats ...
