WILLOW WOOD — Green coach Kevin Lewis has a team that is very understanding.

Oh, they might be sensitive to others’ needs or problems, but the understanding that concerns Lewis is the players’ ability to grasp what they’ve been taught.

The Bobcats put those teachings to use Friday as Green beat the Symmes Valley Vikings 64-60 in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

“It was very good to see our team start to understand how to make the team better for the first time. Our kids are understanding their roles and what we want them to do,” Lewis said.

An example of understanding was senior Derek Lewis who moved back to the point guard position and proved his value without scoring a point.

“Symmes Valley did a good job on Derek, but he understood what they were doing and got the ball to the open man. We had a lot of people do a good job for us,” coach Lewis said.

Brian Ramey led Green (6-4, 4-2 SOC) with 27 points and eight rebounds. Nathan Patten was held scoreless, but Joey Dyer had eight points, John Dawson scored 10 points while Ian Kelley grabbed eight rebounds.

Symmes Valley coach Alvin Carpenter was pleased with his team’s performance. He said one four-minute stretch proved to be the difference in the game.

“We had 15 turnovers for the game but we had six in a four-minute span in the third quarter that really hurt us,” Carpenter said.

“Other than the four minutes in the third quarter, we played pretty well.”

Michael Humphreys led the Vikings (3-6, 3-3) with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Kyle Meadows finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds while Kirt Shipley had 11 points.

Humphreys scored seven points in the first quarter as the Vikings came out of the chute to go up 9-2. Dawson had seven points to get Green within 18-15 at the end of the quarter.

“We got off to a pretty slow start, but I thought we did a pretty good job of battling back,” coach Lewis said. “And you have to give Symmes Valley a lot of credit. They just keep coming at you.”

Dyer scored all eight of his points in the second quarter to help offset nine points by Humphreys as Green came back to take a 34-33 halftime lead.

Ramey had nine points in the third quarter and the Vikings turnovers woes led to just six points as Green pulled away to a 48-39.

Humphreys had seven points and Meadows six as the Vikings tried to rally in the fourth quarter, but Ramey answered with eight points and Kelley five to help Green remain in front.

Green15191416=64

Sym. Valley1815621=60

GREEN (6-4, 4-1): Joey Dyer 1 1 3-4 8, Jason Bester 2 0 1-2 5, Derek Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, John Bowen 3 0 1-2 7, Nathan Patten 0 0 0-0 0, Brian Ramey 9 0 9-12

27, Ian Kelley 2 0 3-6 7, John Dawson 1 2 2-3 10. Totals: 21-51

(3)

19-29

64. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 28 (Ramey 8, Kelley 8). Turnovers: 8. Assists: 12 (Lewis 8).

SYMMES VALLEY (3-6, 3-3): Tyler Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Kirt Shipley 1 3 0-1 11, Seth Saunders 1 0 0-0 2, Kyle Meadows 4 0 2-4 10, Matt Owens 0 3 0-0 9, Michael Humphreys 9 1 2-4 23, Alex Burnett 1 0 1-2 3. Totals: 24-56

(7-17)

5-11

60. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 41 (Meadows 13, Humphreys 12). Assists: 9 (Owens 3, Shipley 3). Steals: 5 (Humphreys 2, Meadows 2). Turnovers: 15.