There’s nothing like the real thing when it comes to winning.

After a couple of tough losses, the Symmes Valley Vikings picked up a hard-fought win Tuesday by beating the New Boston Tigers 63-59 in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

“We were kind of needing a win. We haven’t been playing that bad, but those moral victories only go so far,” said Vikings’ coach Alvin Carpenter.

Kris Tibbs led the Vikings again with 24 points, but he got some big help from Luke Taylor who scored 17 points and Josh Craft with 15.

Tibbs had 16 rebounds and Hunter Johnson grabbed 10.

“We did a nice job on the boards and we only had 14 turnovers,” said Carpenter.

Tibbs scored eight in the first quarter as the Vikings took a 15-10 lead.

New Boston came back in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 29-28 at the half.

Tibbs got eight more in the third quarter and the Vikings were up 40-38.

Craft scored 10 points in the fourth quarter including 4-of-4 from the line in the final minute to seal the win. Tibbs was 2-of-2 at the line during the same span.

Michael Salisbury scored 25 points to lead New Boston.

New Boston 10 18 10 21 = 59

Symmes Valley 15 14 11 23 = 63

NEW BOSTON (NA): Robert Waugh 3 1 0-0 9, Cody McNutt 2 0 2-2 6, Michael Salisbury 4 4 5-8 25, Levi Horsley 0 1 0-2 3, Josh Tyler 3 0 0-0 6, Nate Henson 1 0 1-1 3, Cody Delotell 1 1 2-2 7. Totals: 14 7 10-15 59. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (3-4, 2-1): Dustin Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Josh Craft 2 2 5-6 15, Justin Payne 1 0 0-0 2, Kris Tibbs 10 0 4-4 24, Luke Taylor 8 0 1-2 17, Hunter Johnson 2 0 1-5 5, Brandon Bowling 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Stanley 0 0 0-0 0, Robbie Powell 0 0 0-0 0, Jesse Graybeal 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-70 11-17 63. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 2-11. Rebounds: 40 (Tibbs 16, Johnson 10). Assists: 16 (Craft 7, Johnson 5). Steals: 9 (Payne 4, Craft 3). Turnovers: 14.