Gallipolis tops River Valley in finale, 51-34

[jottings]

Senior forward Chuck Calvart scored a game high 17 points to pace Gallia Academy High School’s Blue Devils to a 51-34 non-conference victory in the Raiders new gym in Bidwell Saturday evening.

Calvart hit one two pointer and five treys as the Blue Devils ended regular season play with their seventh win against 13 losses. GAHS will face Athens in the Division II tournament at Logan on Tuesday, Feb. 23. Tipoff is 6:15 p.m.

River Valley dropped to 3-14 on the season. The Raiders will travel to Chesapeake Wednesday for a makeup contest in the Ohio Valley Conference. Tuesday the Raiders battle Wellston in the Division III section tourney at Athens High School at 6:15 p.m. RVHS still has another OVC makeup game with Fairland. No date has been announced for that contest.

Saturday, before a capacity crowd in Bidwell, Gallipolis blanked the Raiders 8-0 in the first period as Calvart hit two threes and John Troester got a layup. GAHS outscored RVHS 11-7 in the second period to take a 19-7 halftime lead. The Blue Devils outscored the hosts 15-11 in the third quarter to take a 34-18 advantage into the final period. Both coaches used subs in the final quarter as GAHS outscored the Raiders, 17-16.

Besides Calvart’s 17 points, Jared Golden tallied nine points, Troester seven, Nick Mitchell and Ethan Moore six apiece and Jordan Cornwell three..

Cody McAvena led River Valley’s attack with 12 points. Dominique Peck added 10 and Cody Smith eight points.

Gallia Academy sanl 17 of 40 field goal attempts for 42.5 percent. GAHS was 11 of 24 from two-point range for 45.8 percent and six of 16 behind the arc for 37.5 percent. The Devils were 11 of 17 at the foul line for 64.7 percent.

Gallipolis picked off 36 rebounds, nine each by Troester and Golden, had 13 personals and 16 turnovers. The Blue Devils had 11 assists, four by Moore, six steals, to each by Calvart and Golden, and Troester had two blocked shots. GAHS had 11 deflections in the 32-minute battle.

River Valley sank 14 of 46 field goal attempts for 25.7 percent. The Raiders were four of 11 at the foul line for 36.3 percent and had 19 personals and 26 rebounds,10 by Dominique Peck. RVHS had 13 turnovers.

Gallipolis also won the reserve game, 54-30 to finish the year at 10-10. River Valley’s JVs dropped to 1-16.

Gallipolis led 16-8, 35-12 and 50 16 at the quartermarks.

Cody Billings led the Blue Imps with nine points. Tyler Eastman and Drew Young had seven apiece and Bryce Amos finished with six markers. Jacob Leach scored eight points for the Raiders. Derek Flint added seven and Austin Lewis five.

Varsity box score:

GALLIPOLIS (51) – Corey Eberhard, 0-1-3-1; Jordan Cornwell, 0-(1)-0-0-3; Ethan Moore, 1-4-4-6; Nate Allison, 0-2-2-2; Nick Mitchell, 3-0-1-6; Chuck Calvart, 1-(5)-0-0-17; Austin Wilson, 0-0-0-0; Jared Golden, 3-3-5-9; John Troester, 3-1-2-7; Nate Gordon, 0-0-0-0. Totals 11-(6)-11-17-51.

RIVER VALLEY (34) – Trey Noble, 0-0-2-0; Keith Skidmore, 0-0-0-0; Cody McAvena, 3-(2)-0-0-12; Parker Hollingsworth, 1-2-4-4; Aaron Harrison, 0-0-0-0; Kyle Bryant, 0-0-0-0; Dominique Peck, 4-2-5-10; Cody Smith, 4-0-0-8. Totals 12-(2)-4-11-34.

Score by quarters:
Gallipolis………8 11 15 17 -- 51
River Valley…...0 7 11 16 -- 34
Reserve score—Gallipolis 54 River Valley 30
Next GAHS game—Tuesday, Feb. 23 vs. Athens in sectional tournament, 6:15 p.m. River Valley vs. Wellston, 6:15 p.m., Feb. 23, vs. Wellston in sectional tourney at Athens.

[ole_Bobcat]

GAHS was actually up 19-4 late in the first half before Sr Cody McAvena dialed long distance to make it 19-7. Then RV came out and played very hard trying to make the comeback, but I dont remember them getting any closer than 10 the second half. Calvert was a lifesaver with his five big threes and as you read Jottings excellent recap, the Raiders were simply cold from the field most of the night.

Peck had all ten of his points in the fourth quarter as the game Raiders tried to get back in it. Golden and Troester had several looks down low and putbacks to keep RV at bay.

RV actually had the game down to 8 & 7 points a couple times in the 3rd and 4th qtr it was a pretty intense played game the whole way. The 3 ball was the difference in this one.RV got off to another slow start which hand cuffed them all night.

The Rowdy Crowd vs Dirty Devils was pretty awesome. what HS Basketball is all about and what makes it fun. Glad to see the teams get to play at their own schools. Great Rivalry.
Congrats Devils!
Good Luck in Logan!!