COAL GROVE – Black Eyed Peas sing it, the Symmes Valley Vikings play it.

The Vikings got the season started in the Coal Grove gym with a 17-2 run and never looked back as they beat the Hornets 68-52 Saturday in the season opener for both teams.

“Shipley hit a 3 right off to open things up and then we started going inside. (Michael) Humphrey and (Kyle) Meadows are a load in there,” Vikings coach Alvin Carpenter said.

“Our guards did a good job of taking care of the ball and our big guys inside did a nice job.”

Coal Grove was just 3 of 7 from the field in the first quarter and committed 10 turnovers.

“Symmes Valley is a very athletic team. They played well,” Hornets coach Mike Waller said. “We moved the ball well and got some good shots, but we didn’t hit the shots.”

Michael Humphrey had 25 points to lead the Vikings while Kyle Meadows and Kirt Shipley had 14 points each.

The Hornets were led by their inside game as Tyler Branch scored 19 points and Adam Bare had 17 points and 13 rebounds.

After the Vikings took a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, Humphrey scored 10 points in the second quarter and the lead was 33-22 at the break.

Bare 8 points kept the Hornets within striking distance, but they never got any closer than 10 points the rest of the game.

Symmes Valley was up 46-33 after three quarters.

Shipley scored 9 points in the fourth quarter to offset 6 by Branch as the Vikings sealed the win.

On Tuesday, Coal Grove visits Oak Hill and Symmes Valley hosts South Gallia.

Sym. Valley17161322=68

Coal Grove6161119=52

SYMMES VALLEY (1-0): Tyler Smith 1 1 0-0 5, Brice Sexton 1 0 0-0 2, Jacob Johnson 1 0 2-4 4, Kirt Shipley 4 2 0-0 14, Chris Capper 1 0 0-0 2, Matt Tibbs 1 0 0-0 2, Kyle Meadows 5 0 4-5 14, Michael Humphrey 9 0 7-11 25. Totals: 26-47

(3-9)

13-20

68. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 37 (Humphrey 14, Meadows 10). Assists: 20 (Smith 6, Johnson 6). Steals: 8 (Johnson 2, Smith 2, Humphrey 2). Turnovers: 14.

COAL GROVE (0-1): Simon Hall 0 0 0-0 0, Zach Murphy 3 0 0-0 6, Chris Dirling 0 0 0-0 0, Alex Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Zach Sloan 0 0 0-0 0, Shannon Goodwin 0 1 0-0 3, Eric Davidson 1 0 0-0 2, Austin Willis 1 0 1-1 3, Jacob Browning 1 0 0-0 2, Tyler Branch 8 0 3-4 19, Adam Bare 6 0 5-10 17. Totals: 20

1

9-15

52. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Bare. Rebounds: 29 (Bare 13). Assists: 8 (Davidson 3, Murphy 3, Sloan 2). Steals: 4 (Bare 2). Turnovers: 15.