Hardwood Heroes
The Alexander Spartans take home a buzzer-beater win against Vinton County
By: Bryce Tinson, Cameron Young
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MCARTHUR, Ohio (WOUB) – The 12-6 (8-1) Vinton County Vikings welcomed in the 10-9 (7-2) Alexander Spartans in a marquee TVC-Ohio showdown. This game had serious title implications. With a win VC would all but secure the title. A win for Alexander meant they could be looking at a share of the championship at the very worst.
The game started with an insane Kyler D’Augustino scoring spurt. He was destroying the Vikings defense and finding easy lanes to the hoop. For Vinton County it was Eli Radabaugh who did most of the scoring in the first quarter, but it wasn’t enough. D’Augustino had 14 in the first quarter, the same number of points the Vikings had as a team.
In the second the tides shifted. Vinton County came out in a different defense to start the second and it worked. They went on an 8-0 run to start the quarter with some help off the bench by Bradyn Cain. Braylon Damron also found his shot converting on the only three shots he took. The Spartans weren’t able to rely on D’Augustino in the second because of the Vikings defense, but other players like Dylan Allison and Jagger Cain stepped up to help Alexander hold onto the lead heading into the half.
Alexander was able to extend the lead early in the third quarter as Kyler started to attack the basket again. Once the Spartans got the lead, they took the air out of the ball. The pace of the game slowed. D’Augstino dribbled at the half court line until a double team came and then would pass or dribble out of it. The VC offense struggled in the third to get much going offensively but were able to hang around long enough.
In the fourth quarter the Vikings pulled out their full court press, which sped up the game and forced the Spartans to move the ball quickly up court. It caused turnovers, which VC was able to capitalize on and shrink the lead. With 4:43 left in the fourth quarter Alexander had a 55-53 lead. That turned in to a Vinton County 60-59 lead, the first lead for the Vikings since 5-4, but D’Augustino scored in a matter of seconds to give the Spartans the lead right back. VC was down three after a pair Alexander converted on a pair of one and ones. That’s when Braylon Damron drilled a three off a loose ball offensive rebound to knot the game at 63. With just 15 seconds left D’Augustino drove to the left missed it off the rim but got his own board and put it back in to give Alexander the lead. Some great defense on the final possession gave the Spartans the 65-63 win, and season sweep of Vinton County.
The two teams are now destined to share the TVC-Ohio championship. Vinton County has two conference games left against Wellston and River Valley. Alexander has back-to-back conference games against Athens and Meigs. D’Augustino finished with 30 points for Alexander. Radabaugh had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Braylon Damron added 14 for the Vikings