Vinton County Vikings 2007-2008 Season

[hawkeyepierce]

Preview

In last year’s Vinton County Vikings boys’ basketball preview, this reporter described the previous season as “snake-bitten.” Well, if the 2005-2006 season was “snake-bitten,” then last season, 2006-2007, was well, what is the opposite of “snake-bitten?” “Fortuitous?” “Favorable?” “Wonderful?” The Viking faithful would say it was all of that and more, “Inspired” might be the appropriate adjective. Last season, the Vikings dedicated their season to two fans that lost their battles with cancer; John Prater, long time youth basketball coach and an ex-Viking player and Gene Seitz another ex-Viking player and long time “front row fan.”
And all the Vikings did was to put together the best season ever in Vinton County Viking Basketball History, boys’ or girls,’ by sweeping the TVC-Ohio, 10-0, an undefeated regular season, 20-0, and a Sectional Championship. The Vikings lone loss came at the hands of the Chillicothe Cavaliers in the first round of South East Division II District tournament, the Cavs went onto to lose in the Regional Finals against Columbus DeSales. The Vikings finished their season at 22-1.
However, eighth year head coach Matt Combs is not looking back; “We can't live off of our past success.” Combs, Vinton County’s all-time winningest coach, 104-50, three TVC championships and two Sectional championships, is Solomon like in what he says; “If our kids listen to all of those that just think we are going to step onto the court and automatically have a great year, then we are in for a rude awakening.” Although he knows that the success of the program was built on players of his past seasons. “You can't lose 2 players as good as what (Jerrod) Albright and (Eric) Henry were and not feel the sting a little bit, but that's high school basketball. To be a good program you have to have younger guys ready to step in and returning players ready to expand their roles. Hopefully we will have both.”
The Vikings graduated four seniors last season, Nate Huff, Pat Wright, but none bigger than Albright and Henry. Albright a four year varsity letterman, finished his career with 59 wins, 858 points for eighth all-time in Viking history and now is continuing his basketball endeavors at Wilmington College. Henry’s numbers are not impressive as Albright, however he was the leader in “intangibles,” his leadership and intensity will be sorely missed. Coach Combs was asked how do you fill those voids, he said; “We have a tall task ahead of us, and it's going to take a lot of hard work, unselfishness, and maturity for us to accomplish our goals.”
Yes, but, and that is a big but, the Vikings return reigning TVC Player of the Year, senior 6’5” Dustin Guthrie. Guthrie himself making dents in the Vikings record book; currently 12th all-time in scoring and is 291 points shy of one thousand and 3rd all-time, and he is currently sixth all-time among rebounders. Guthrie is a walking double-double and creates match-up problems for teams because of his ability to play on the outside as well as in the post.
Joining Guthrie for post up duties will be Jake Prater, (John’s only son), the 6’4” junior will take pressure off of Guthrie just by his presence alone, however, it is his defense and rebounding that earned him All-TVC honors last year.
The rest of the starting line-up will look something like this, senior Andrew Eberts, 6’1,” at the two guard position and senior Ryan Stewart, 6’1,” at the three guard position. These two seniors will make it very difficult on defenses all season, with Guthrie and Prater in the middle it will be “pick your poison” as the pair combined for 59 three-pointers last season, (Eberts 29 and Stewart 30).
Directing traffic at the point guard position will be Andy Grillo, the 5’10” sophomore guard will be relied on to handle the ball and probably most important contributing when he can, because with Guthrie, Prater, Eberts and Stewart on the floor he probably doesn’t have to.
The rest of the seniors are Ben Batey, 6’1” swing man can play defense and rebound, but has worked hard over the summer to expand his offensive game. Michael Dixon, 6’0” post player, filled with “intangibles” will be relied to provide much needed depth at that position and also provide senior leadership.
Brandon Clark, junior guard, 5’10” will provide depth at the point guard position as well as the ability to hit the three, but his quickness on defense will be bothersome to opponents. Ethan Allen, 6’2” guard is long and athletic; his ability to rebound, score and play defense makes him a viable threat at the varsity level. Dylan Guthrie, Dustin’s younger brother, the 6’2” sophomore swing man is a presence on the court; just like his older brother he has a great scoring touch around the basket as well as at the arc. Taylor Reed, 6’1” guard, and Steven Thompson, 5’9” these two sophomores will split duties between the varsity and junior varsity, however, the both of them can contribute on any given night with their great shooting touch.
The Vikings and Coach Combs have established themselves as one of the South East District elite programs, no longer are the Vikings sneaking up on anyone. When Coach Combs was asked about this year’s team; “This team needs to develop its own identity and realize that we are going to have a target on our backs every night. Hopefully we will develop some leadership on this team that will help us overcome the adversity that we are bound to face throughout the season.”
The Vikings will begin to look for their identity on the road Friday the 23rd at TVC-Hocking Southern Tornados.

November 23 Southern Away
November 30 Trimble Home
December 4 Zane Trace Home
December 7 Nelsonville Away
December 11 Athens Home
December 14 Belpre Away
December 15 Huntington Ohio University
December 21 Alexander Home
December 22 Southeastern Away
December 29 Jackson Home
January 4 Meigs Away
January 5 Waverly Away
January 11 Wellston Away
January 18 Nelsonville Home
January 25 Belpre Home
January 26 Philo Away
February 1 Alexander Away
February 5 Meigs Home
February 8 Wellston Home
February 9 Waterford Away

2 Andy Grillo 5'11 10
3 Ryan Stewart 6'1 12
5 Taylor Reed 6'1 10
10 Andrew Eberts 6'1" 12
11 Ethan Allen 6'2" 10
12 Michael Dixon 6'0" 12
21 Ben Batey 6'1" 12
22 Dustin Guthrie 6'5" 12
23 Brandon Clark 5'10" 11
24 Steven Thompson 5'9" 10
32 Dylan Guthrie 6'2" 10
34 Jake Prater 6'4" 11

[ball hound]

Very nice hawkeye...

[hawkeyepierce]

Game 1

The Vinton County Vikings began its 2007-2008 season on the road when they traveled to Racine for inter-divisional match-up against the TVC Hocking Southern Tornados. The Vikings came away with a 61-42 victory.

The Vikings got out to an early 8-1 start on the strength of senior and reigning TVC Player of the Year Dustin Guthrie as he scored the Vikings first eight points. The Vikings were able to force early turnovers as the Tornados didn’t have its first shot attempt at the 6:37 mark and from there the Vikings never looked back. The Vikings held a 17-5 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter it was much the same as the Vikings extended the lead. “It was important for us to get an early start.” said Vikings Head Coach Matt Combs. “We figured that we would see a lot of zone defenses, however if they have to play from behind it would force them to play man, which would be advantageous to us.” Southern did mix up their zone defenses trying to neutralize Guthrie. It did not work. Guthrie quietly had 16 first half points. At the half the Vikings held a 21 point advantage, 34-13.

In the second half the Tornados would not go away in front of their home crowd. They managed to cut the lead to 14 points early in the third quarter. The Vikings managed to make a late run of their own to extend the lead at 23, 46-23 at the end of the third.
The Vikings trying to let the air out of the ball in the fourth quarter, managed to get in a little turnover trouble themselves, losing the quarter 19-15, making the final 61-42.

Combs said of the victory; “I felt like we were out of sync a little on offense, but our defense was solid against a good shooting team like Southern. We have a week before game two and plenty of practice time work things out. However, it is a good first win.”

The Vikings were led by Guthrie with 21 points and 13 rebounds, Ryan Stewart with 10 points, Andrew Eberts with 9 points, Dylan Guthrie with six points, Michael Dixon five points, Ethan Allen five points, Andy Grillo with three points and Ben Batey with two points.

The Junior Varsity was also victorious by a score of 57-41. The young Vikings led by Taylor Reed 13 points, Adam Ward 12 points, Dylan Guthrie eight points, Brandon Clark seven points, Steven Thompson and Levi Lawhead with six points apiece and Josh Smallwood with five points.

The Vikings will be back in action next Friday when they will host Trimble as part of a triple-header, the Freshmen contest to start at 5 PM.

[pfloyd]

... good stuff Hawkeye ...

[boilermaker]

RALPH was here

[freakintheseat]

Hawkeye, where are you? You are slacking my old friend! Will there be a play-by-play report on the VC vs Trimble game? or have I over looked it?

[Bozo]

Are any of the Vinton County games on the radio? What station?

[VIKED_MAN]

Are any of the Vinton County games on the radio? What station?

mostly on 98.7
Zane Trace game on here for sure, cause The Judge told me Sat, they would be doing this game.
I think the girls game vs Rock Hill will be on tonite?
GO VIKES

[Burg_Grad_77]

How does VC match up against Nelsonville York and what are your thoughts on who will win?

[hawkeyepierce]

Game 2

The Vinton County Vikings welcomed in the Trimble Tomcats for the first home game of the 2007-2008 season. And the Vikings did not disappoint the large home crowd to see this year’s edition of the Vikings. The only thing the Vikings did was to continue their winning ways. Vinton County defeated Trimble 79-59 in inter-divisional TVC match-up. The victory pushes the Vikings record for consecutive regular season win streak to 27 games.

The Vikings are now 2-0 and will begin TVC-Ohio play Friday at Nelsonville.

The Vikings got out to a quick start in the first quarter behind the usual suspects. As seniors Dustin Guthrie and Andrew Eberts notched five points apiece in the first stanza. Vikings head coach Matt Combs was grateful of the quick start; “It is always nice to get out to quick start. But our mindset is to win the quarter.” The Vikings won the quarter by 13, to open up to a 19-6 lead.

In the second quarter, the Vikings managed more of the same, despite the game plan of Trimble head coach Greg Koons. The Tomcats looked to take away Guthrie by mixing up their zones and trapping the 6’5” senior. It was then fellow senior Ryan Stewart started to catch fire, hitting two threes in the quarter. Stewart finished with the game with three threes and some other very impressive numbers; led the team in rebounds, nine, dished out six assists, had five steals and one block and finished with 15 points. The Vikings led at halftime, 35-18.

After halftime the Tomcats picked up the paced on the offensive end by scoring 23 points in the third, more points than the first two quarters combined. As senior Tomcat Issac Standley, team high 16 points and junior Joey Reitano, 15 points, were heating up, so were the Vikings. Stewart, Guthrie and Eberts (who finished with a game high 20 points) were throwing points on the scoreboard, sophomore point guard Andy Grillo got in on the act. Grillo reached double figures for the first time this season with 12 points. The Vikings scored 26 in the quarter and extended their lead 61-41.

In the final quarter the Tomcats kept paced with the Vikings. However, the younger Vikings managed to get their name in the book as sophomores Dylan Guthrie had six points and sophomore Taylor Reed scored his very first varsity points with a lay-up. The final stanza was tied 18-18, and then the final was 79-59.

The Vikings were led by Eberts with 20 points including 7 of 7 from the free throw line, Guthrie 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting and Stewart 15 points. Grillo had 12 points. Seniors Ben Batey and Michael Dixon scored five and three points respectfully.

The Vikings made a clean sweep of the evening when the Freshmen and Junior Varsity were also victorious. The Freshmen Vikings began the evening with a 39-25 victory; they were led by Richie Fairchild with 11 and Jason Wiseman with seven. In the Junior Varsity contest the Vikings won by a score of 50-34, they were led by Levi Lawhead with 14, Dylan Guthrie with 11 and Adam Ward 10.

The Vikings will begin TVC-Ohio play on Friday when they will travel to Nelsonville, junior varsity contest to begin at 6:30 pm.

[akwhitewater]

I have to admit of all the post I really enjoying reading what you write about your beloved Vikings

[hawkeyepierce]

Sorry Captain, I am handicapped by the newspaper that I write for, I will have it soon.

AK, thank you! I am glad someone enjoys my ramblings.

[hawkeyepierce]

Game 3

It is said to be a good team you must beat good teams. The Vinton County Vikings welcomed in a very good team Tuesday night, the Zane Trace Pioneers. The Pioneers are a member of the Scioto Valley Conference and a front-runner for the SVC championship. The Vikings used a third quarter rout to defeat the Pioneers 74-58.

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard first with a Beau Dailey baseline jumper, starting the game 2-0. The Vikings answered with a senior Andrew Eberts three-pointer, taking the lead at 3-2. Mike Miller of Zane Trace provided the Pioneers with their last lead of the game with a put back basket, 4-3. The Vikings quickly responded, demonstrating it was their night as they reeled off six straight points. Eberts, who had ten points in the quarter, converted on a driving lay-up and put the Vikings up 5-4, a lead that they would never relinquish. At the end of the first the Vikings held a 23-15 lead.

In the second quarter the Vikings were outscored 13-12; however, with a positive turnover margin and the support of the home crowd, the Vikings maintained momentum. The halftime lead was seven, 35-28.

The Pioneers had the possession arrow coming out at halftime, with the chance to cut the Viking lead and perhaps an opportunity to swing momentum. However, senior Ryan Stewart stole the inbounds pass and quickly went the other way for an uncontested lay-up and a Viking lead of nine. It was a sign of things to come. Senior Dustin Guthrie, who was held to only six points in the first half, busted out with seven in the third, to lead the Vikings on a 23-9 run in the third quarter. It was a 21-point lead, 58-37.

In the final stanza the Vikings held, at several times, a 24-point lead. Senior Ben Batey paced the Vikings in the last quarter with six of his season high 15 points. Both coaches cleared their benches and the Pioneers subs were able to outgain the Vikings subs in the final minutes. The final was a sixteen-point win, 74-58.

“This win says something about our kids; we played extremely well.” Coach Matt Combs commented. “That was a very good team that we beat tonight.”

The Vikings put three players in double figures- Eberts with 19, Batey with 15, and Guthrie with 15 and 10 rebounds. Stewart chipped in with nine; Andy Grillo and Ethan Allen had five apiece. Michael Dixon and Jake Prater had four and two points respectively.

The win brings the Vikings to 3-0 on the young season. Zane Trace drops their record to 1-2.

The Junior Varsity game was played earlier in the evening and the Vikings also notched a victory by a score of 54-37. The young Vikings were led by Taylor Reed with 13 points, with help from Dylan Guthrie with ten points and Adam Ward with nine.

[Viking_Pride]

Hey T, when ya gonna post the Nelsonville game info?? I know we won, but wanna here the good stuff, for I couldn't make the game.


Thanks.

"DK"

[hawkeyepierce]

Game 4

The Vinton County Vikings began the defense of their Tri-Valley Conference, Ohio Division boys' basketball championship with a 78-45 victory over host Nelsonville-York Buckeyes on Friday night.

The senior-laden Vikings led from from the get-go against a young Buckeyes' squad as they pushed their overall record to 4-0. It was also the Vikings' 29th straight regular-season victory.

The Vikings jumped out to early leads of 7-0 and 13-2 on their way to a 23-8 lead after one quarter. Senior Dustin Guthrie converted on his first five shot attempts on his way to a 12 point quarter.

The Vikings led 47-22 at halftime on the back of Guthrie who had twenty points at the half on 10 of 12 shooting.

Guthrie finished the game with 24 points on 12 of 15 shooting and was the only one in double figures for the vistors however nine other Vikings notched at least a point in the contest. And has a team the Vikings collected 18 assists.

Ryan Stewart and Ben Batey had nine points each with Eberts adding eight and Dylan Guthrie coming off the bench to score eight points.

The Vikings were credited with 27 rebounds with Michael Dixon and Dylan Guthrie coming off the bench to grabbed a team-leading seven boards.

VCHS 23 24 18 13 - 78

N-Y 8 14 14 9 - 45

VINTON COUNTY 78

Dustin Guthrie 12 0-0 24, Ryan Stewart 4 0-0 9, Ben Batey 4 1-1 9, Andrew Eberts 3 0-0 8, Dylan Guthrie 4 0-0 8, Andy Grillo 1 2-2 4, Jake Prater 2 0-0 4, Michael Dixon 2 0-0 4, Taylor Reed 0 2-2 2, Brandon Clark 0 0-1 0, Ethan Allen 3 0-0 6; TOTALS: 35 5-6 78; 3-point goals: 3 (Eberts 2, Stewart 1).

[pfloyd]

... hawkeye ... good to see Jake Praters name in the box score again ... he'll keep getting back into the flow as the young season continues ... by the time Christmas is over the Vikes will be at full strength, the young guards will have figured out their roles - VC will keep getting better and better imo ...

[Viking_Pride]

Thanks for the update Hawkeye!! Good stuff!!

"DK"

[akwhitewater]

Hawkeye- - - love reading your post !! Vinton County has a tough week ahead alot of ball, what do you think the chance of them coming out of it 3-0? A schedule like this one takes alot out of the boys.

GO FOR IT VINTON

[hawkeyepierce]

Yes, this is a tough week for the Vikings. -- Athens in your face, pressing and running up tempo style of play. The Vikings should do well in this track meet. Then Belpre at Belpre; need I say more? Then the following day, the Vikings will see the best point guard (IMO) in the Southeast District, Josh Kellough. This game will come down to positions and player roles, our big men against their guards, centers versus guards.

To answer your question, yes absolutely the Vikings could 3-0, but I will be happy if they go 1-2, if the that lone win is Friday night.

It all sounds good on paper, but that is why they play the game.