WILLOW WOOD – Wait until the Portsmouth Clay Panthers see their long distance bill.

Wednesday, January 10, 2001

WILLOW WOOD – Wait until the Portsmouth Clay Panthers see their long distance bill.

Actually, they probably won’t mind paying that bill if they get similar results.

Clay hit 14 3-point goals as they beat the Symmes Valley Vikings 72-64 in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

Vikings coach Alvin Carpenter said his team’s defense really wasn’t at fault.

"They might have had two or three where they came off a screen and took the shot, but most of their (3-point attempts) were contested. We usually had a hand in their face," Carpenter said.

Robbie Huff scored 25 points including seven 3-pointers to lead Clay (6-3, 4-2). Andrew Larger had a career-high 24-point performance highlighted by six 3-point goals.

Travis Kilmare added 15 points for Clay.

Drew Hunt did his own long-range shooting for the Vikings. He scored 23 points including five 3-pointers. Adam Corn had 18 points while Justin Myers scored 21 points including his 1,000th career point. He also had 12 rebounds.

Clay took a 17-15 first quarter lead as Larger scored 10 points, but Corn scored 12 to keep the Vikings close.

Huff had 11 points the second quarter as Clay opened up a 34-17 lead, but Hunt scored 10 points as Symmes Valley got within 38-32 at the half.

Larger and Huff had six points each and Clay moved in front 56-42 at the end of the third quarter.

Hunt scored nine points the fourth quarter and the Vikings began to rally, but Larger and Huff combined for 10 points to give Clay the win.

"We just got down too far, and when you’re playing against a team shooting the eyes out of it, that’s just too much," said Carpenter. "We played pretty defense, they were just on fire. It was just one of those nights."

The loss was the first of the season for the Vikings, 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SOC.

Prts. Clay 17 21 18 16 – 72

Sym. Valley 15 17 10 22 – 64

PORTSMOUTH CLAY (6-3, 4-2): Caleb Payne 2 0 0-0 4, Jeff Duduit 0 0 1-2 1, Robbie Huff 1 7 2-4 25, Andy Holsinger 0 1 0-0 3, Travis Kilmare 6 0 3-4 15, Andrew Larger 2 6 2-4 24. Totals: 11 14 8-14 72. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (6-1, 3-1): Drew Hunt 4 5 0-0 23, Adam Corn 4 2 4-5 18, Justin Myers 9 0 3-4 21, Travis Wilson 1 0 0-0 2, Brad Carpenter 0 0 0-0 0, Chris Lafon 0 0 0-0 0, David Owens, Brandon Runyon, Eric Holland, J. T. Pierce 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 7 7-9 64. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Carpenter. Rebounds: 33 (Myers 12, Corn 6, Carpenter 6, Runyon 5, Hunt 4). Assists: 13 (Lafon 6, Carpenter 4, Myers 3). Steals: 10 (Lafon 3, Hunt 2, Carpenter 3, Corn 2). Turnovers: 18.