Hardwood Heroes Sports
Vinton County Starts Postseason On Right Foot Versus Lady Cavs
By: Tee Willis
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LOGAN, Ohio- After their dominant regular season, the Vinton County Lady Vikings got their first test of the postseason against a familiar opponent at Logan High School on Thursday night. Despite Vinton County head coach Rod Bentley being sidelined due to a recent surgery, the Lady Vikings still put on phenomenal performance with assistant coach Brett Jones at the helm.
Vinton County’s offense flourished in its assertive 71-39 win over the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers. Much of the that offensive success was due to the Lady Vikes’ unselfish play and consistent ball movement.
“When we share the basketball, we can beat anyone,” Jones said. “We’ve always said that to them [the girls], the best thing about this team is that they’re unselfish.”
The selflessness Jones spoke of was apparent, as four Lady Vikings — Tegan Bartoe, Morgan Bentley, Cameron Zinn and Lacie Williams — scored in double figures. Bentley’s game-high 20 points was accompanied by seven rebounds and four assists.
The Lady Vikings were hot from behind the three-point line, hitting 11 of their 24 attempts. Vinton County took advantage of the Lady Cavs’ zone defense by penetrating inside the paint, drawing defenders in and kicking out to open shooters.
This penetrate-and-kick offense led to Lacie Williams’ 15 points, all of which came from behind the three-point line.
Defensively, Vinton County was locked in. Sticking primarily to man-to-man defense, the Lady Vikes did an exceptional job of protecting the paint, boxing out shooters and forcing turnovers. Those turnovers allowed Vinton County to use its speed and passing ability to get easy buckets in transition.
“We did a great job of creating turnovers,” Jones said. “I knew coming in if we created turnovers and get out running, I didn’t know if they had the offense to stay with us. We put 71 points up and that’s hard to do come tournament time.”
The Lady Vikings will carry their momentum into a Division II Sectional-Finals matchup against Unioto. That game will be next Thursday at Southeastern High School.