It’s been a struggle at the start followed by a tightening of the defense and ending with an offensive spurt and win.

Wednesday, December 22, 1999

It’s been a struggle at the start followed by a tightening of the defense and ending with an offensive spurt and win. It was the same story line Tuesday as the unbeaten Green Bobcats rallied past the Portsmouth East Tartans 72-58 in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

Green fell behind the first quarter, then used a spurt in the second quarter to take the lead for good and improve to 4-0 overall and in the league.

"We got off to a shaky start," Green coach Kevin Lewis said. "The shots weren’t falling, but in the second quarter our press started to take over. East did a good job of handling the ball, but that just got the game going up and down the floor. The big key was our press in getting the game going up and down the floor."

Chris Williams had 24 points and 10 assists to trigger the Green win. Michael Riffe had 18 points.

Kyle Dyer grabbed 10 rebounds, and Kyle Darnell and Riffe seven each.

"When we weren’t shooting the ball well, Darnell and Dyer both had some big offensive rebounds that they stuck back in. That was a big key early," said Lewis.

East got 18 points from Dustin Walker. Matt Shaffer had 14 and Jim Walburn 10.

The Tartans (3-3) took a 15-11 first quarter lead as Walker scored 6 points.

Williams then scored 8 points and Riffe 7 as Green outscored East 21-11 to go up 32-26 at the half.

The Bobcats kept on scoring the third quarter as Riffe scored 9 points and Williams 8 to extend the lead to 57-42.

Williams had 6 points the fourth quarter to help offset 7 by Shaffer as Green claimed the win.

Although they didn’t score a lot, Lewis pointed out Ben Dyer, Jeff Dixon, and Jacob Yarnell made major contributions.

"It was a nice team win. We got some excellent play from our supporting cast," said Lewis. "Ben Dyer handled the ball well, Jeff Dixon had nice game with his defensive presence, and Yarnell gave us six points and four rebounds. That’s a positive sign."

Green plays at Coal Grove Tuesday, Dec. 28.

GREEN – 11 21 25 15 – 72: Ben Dyer 0 1 3-6 6, Jeff Dixon 1 0 0-0 2, Michael Riffe 4 2 4-4 18, Chris Williams 10 0 4-7 24, Kyle Dyer 4 0 1-1 9, Kyle Darnell 2 0 3-6 7, Jacob Yarnell 3 0 0-0 6. Totals: 27-60 (3) 15-24 72. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 29 (K. Dyer 10, Darnell 7, Riffe 7). Assists: 17 (Williams 10). Turnovers: 10.

PORTSMOUTH EAST – 15 11 16 16 – 58: Aaron White 2 0 2-2 6, Randy Cooper 1 0 1-2 3, Dustin Walker 7 1 1-3 18, Bill Hafer 2 0 0-0 4, Jim Walburn 5 0 0-1 10, Matt Shaffer 3 2 2-3 14, Justin Handley 1 0 1-2 3. Totals: 21 3 7-13 58. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Walker.