Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PEDRO — Forget heavy snow or torrential rain. The Rock Hill Redmen had to deal with a points storm.

After giving up 31 points in the first half, the Redmen held Symmes Valley to 9 points in the second half as Rock Hill beat the Vikings 57-40 on Tuesday.

“They were on fire. We said if they continue to shoot like that, they deserve to win. But we weathered the storm,” said Rock Hill coach Dave Hopper.

The main storm chaser for the Redmen was Jake Falls with a game-high 19 points including 11 in the second quarter when he hit three trifectas and rallied his team from a 16-9 deficit to trailed 31-27 at the half.

“We made some adjustments and told them to be patient,” said Hopper. “Falls got us turned around and Timmy Adkins came in and help to get out defense going.

“They were hot to start the game, but we weren’t getting out and contesting shots. In the second half we got that turned around and got good results.”

Payton Hayes hit a pair of triples and Shawn Belville had 4 points as the Vikings opened up a 12-2 lead and were up 16-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Austin Collins — who had 6 points in the second quarter — and Austin Barcus scored 5 points each and Falls added 4 as Rock Hill outscored the Vikings 16-2 in the third quarter to take a 43-33 lead.

The Redmen outscored the Vikings 14-7 in the fourth quarter.

“The first half we played a real nice ball game. The second half it just disappeared,” said Vikings’ coach Donnie Saunders whose team had just two of their 12 turnovers in the first half.

“The second half we couldn’t make plays or make shots. We played hard.”

Collins scored 17 points for the Redmen (7-14) while Barcus added 8.

Symmes Valley (3-14) was led by Hayes with 11 points — all in the first half. Collin Webb and Belville had 8 points each.

Rock Hill hosts Portsmouth on Saturday for senior night. Symmes Valley visits Portsmouth Notre Dame on Friday.

Sym. Valley 16 15 2 7 = 40

Rock Hill 9 18 16 14 = 57

SYMMES VALLEY (3-14): Josh Dial 2 0 0-0 4, Collin Webb 2 1 1-4 8, Shawn Belville 4 0 0-0 8, Blake Sells 0 0 0-0 0, Payton Hayes 0 3 2-2 11, Jacob Klaiber 2 0 0 0-0 4, Matt Rutt 1 0 1-2 3, Jarod Shepherd 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 12 4 4-8 40. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Klaiber.

ROCK HILL (7-14): Alex Nance 3 0 0-0 6, Nathan Turvey 0 1 0-0 3, Austin Collins 4 1 6-9 17, Jake Falls 4 3 2-4 19, Timmy Adkins 0 0 0-0 0, Tanner Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Trystan Matney 1 0 2-2 4, Austin Barcus 2 0 4-6 8. Totals: 14 5 14-21 57. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.