Board work key for Vikings

Published 5:38 am Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Symmes Valley Vikings tried to get their hands on everything they could. And even though they didn’t get everything, they got more than enough to win.

Symmes Valley had another strong rebounding effort — especially on the offensive glass — and beat the Miller Falcons 61-51 Monday night in the Division IV sectional tournament semifinals.

The Vikings grabbed 47 total rebounds with 19 coming on offense. Kris Tibbs had 12 rebounds and Luke Taylor also corralled 12 rebounds with seven coming on the offensive end.

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Hunter Johnson came off the bench to grab six rebound and guards Justin Payne and Josh Craft had five each.

“Our rebounding was the key,” said Vikings’ coach Alvin Carpenter.

“We didn’t shoot the ball that well in the first half, but we were able to get second and third shots that got us the lead.”

The extra chances to score mean the Vikings get another chance in the tournament. They will play Racine Southern at 8 p.m. next Tuesday in the sectional finals.

With the score tied at 6-6, the Vikings (9-11) went on an 11-0 run to end the first quarter with Tibbs getting the final seven in the streak and it was 17-6.

Craft hit a 12-footer, Tibbs a layup and two foul shots and Brandon Bowling a baseline jumper as Symmes Valley went up 25-9 with 2:14 left in the half.

Miller scored eight straight points to get within 25-17 before a layup by Taylor off a pass from Craft gave the Vikings a 27-17 halftime lead.

“We played in spurts,” said Carpenter. “We were caught playing in their tempo and we never really ran our offense consistently. We need to control the tempo.”

Tibbs and Taylor hit treys to open up a 42-23 lead with 41 seconds left in the third quarter. Ryan Estep hit a baseline jumper for Miller, but a layup by Payne gave the Vikings a 4-25 lead before Estep’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer made it 44-28.

Symmes Valley broke the game open midway through the fourth quarter on two baskets by Tibbs and a pair of foul shots by Craft and it was 55-34 with 4:18 to play.

Tibbs led the Vikings with 23 points and Taylor scored 17.

Jacob Reynolds had 14 points for the Falcons. Tyler Householder and Jacob Rader added 10 each.

Miller 6 11 11 23 = 51

Symmes Valley 17 10 17 17 = 61

MILLER: Aaron Ansel 1 1 2-4 7, Tyler Householder 2 2 0-0 10, Tucker McLean 0 0 0-0 0, Joe Rader 3 0 4-6 10, Jacob Reynolds 7 0 0-3 14, Dakota Wilder 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Estep 1 2 0-0 8, Cody Richardson 0 0 0-0 0, Andy Kennison 0 0 0-0 0, Travis Hicks 0 0 0-2 0, Clinton Boring 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-57 6-15 51. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 5-24. Rebounds: 12-off, 27-def = 39 (Rader 12, Ansel 6). Assists: 6 (McLean 2, Householder 2). Steals: 5 (Reynolds 2). Turnovers: 14.

SYMMES VALLEY (9-11): Josh Craft 1 1 3-4 8, Justin Payne 1 0 3-6 5, Kris Tibbs 6 2 5-6 23, Jesse Graybeal 0 0 0-0 0, Luke Taylor 7 1 0-1 17, Dustin Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Robbie Powell 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Bowling 2 0 0-0 4, Hunter Johnson 1 0 0-1 2, Ryan Stanley 0 0 2-4 2, Corey Brown 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-64 13-22 61. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 4-18. Rebounds: 19-28=47 (Taylor 12, Tibbs 12, Johnson 6). Assists: 10 (Johnson 4, Craft 3). Steals: 10 (Craft 3, Bowling 2, Johnson 2). Turnovers: 10.