Hardwood Heroes Sports
Vikings Celebrate Senior Night with a Victory
By: Hardika Singh
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Loud cheers and pompous roars filled the Vinton County High School’s basketball court.
Senior Night for the Vinton County Vikings was full of happy tears as star players Gavin Arbaugh and Lance Montgomery played their last game.
“We’re gonna have to replace Gavin with a bunch of different guys,” said Vinton County Head Coach Matt Combs. “He’s not just one guy, but we think we have the depth to do that.”
The Vikings played a regular season match against the Meigs Marauders on Monday night. As is tradition, the Vikings started out the game with their seniors in the lineup. The weak offense and defense in the beginning led Marauder Colton Cleland to make a layup in the first 30 seconds of the game.
After the first 45 seconds in the first quarter, the Vikings unleashed their regular players. Viking Gavin Arbaugh started converting baskets in the middle of the first quarter. However, the fast play by the Vikings was not enough to catch up with the Marauders, who were leading 10-6 at the end of the first quarter.
As both teams looked to steal and convert baskets in the second quarter, the Vikings picked up their momentum. The Vikings looked to close the four-point gap and scored 14 points in the second quarter, still not enough to catch up to the Marauders, who were leading 21-20.
Both the teams went shot for shot in the third quarter. Rarely turning the ball over, Gavin Arbaugh scored 13 points in the third quarter for the Vikings, allowing the Vikings to gain a 43-38 lead over the Marauders.
In the fourth quarter, the Vikings maintained a strong zone defense, making sure the Marauders don’t make any baskets. To sweeten things up for the Vikings, Gavin Arbaugh made a buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter.
The Meigs seem to have lost their momentum. The Meigs dynamic duo Colter Cleland and Weston Baer had good chemistry throughout the game. Cleland scored 17 points and Baer scored 11 points respectively.
In the fourth quarter, Viking Braylon Damron smacked the ball out of Colter’s hand and assisted Viking Eli Radabaugh for a quick layup with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter. The Vikings further built up on that momentum and won the game 60-56.
With the Vikings win, the Marauders senior basketball players Weston Baer, Bobby Musser, Cory Cox and Cam Burnem’s careers as high school senior basketball players will end.
“I told the guys not many teams can they won their last game of the season,” Matt Combs said. “That’s pretty rare. So, it was fun. It was a good way to send the seniors out, for sure.”