Sports
Vinton County Remains Undefeated
By: Matthew Stephens
Posted on:
The Vinton County Vikings (10-0, 3-0) continued their perfect season Tuesday night with a 72-38 victory over the Jackson Ironmen.
Vikings guard Tristan Bartoe put on an absolute clinic in the first half. Bartoe had 18 points, five steals, two assists and a rebound heading into halftime. Bartoe concluded the evening with 19 total points due to head coach Matt Combs clearing his bench.
“(Bartoe) has sort have been that guy for us a lot this year,” head coach Matt Combs said. “I think he would be the first to tell you, he has got a lot of unselfish guys around him who understand that is his role to attack the rim for us.”
Bartoe was not the only spark for the Vikings on the evening. The Vikings had four players in double digit scoring numbers, showcasing the team’s depth.
Much of the offense can be attributed to the Vikings ability to attack the paint and retain second chance points.
Vinton County forced 15 turnovers the entire night. Ten of the 15 came in the first half.
“We wanted to force the tempo a little bit,” Combs added. “We didn’t know if we would be able to force turnovers or not, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to turn-it-over every trip, we just wanted to speed it up a little bit.”
Defensively, Vinton County easily controlled its own in the paint forcing Jackson to take shots from behind the arch that could not connect. Additionally, the Vikings had a size advantage over the Ironmen and they utilized every bit of it.
At the stripe the boys of McArthur were only 66 percent, but they made up for it behind the arch with 15 total points on the evening coming from way downtown.
Vinton County will return to the hardwood on Friday, Jan. 8 for a matchup with Wellston.