GALION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—River Valley got off to a slow start, which is not an unusual occurrence. However, 46 points in the second half and another balanced scoring effort — with four players in double figures — was more than enough to defeat Galion 77-41 in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
The Vikings (16-2, 11-1) only led 11-7 after one quarter.
“Coach (Tyler) Sanders has been playing all those sophomores. I told the boys, ‘They’re getting comfortable now and getting experience.’ They really battled us in the first half,” RV head coach Rodney Brown said.
“They were right with us. His seniors did a great job starting and were ready to play and we weren’t. Again. These slow starts in the last couple games are going to give me a heart attack,” he said.
Chase Ebert led the way with 18 points, 4 steals, an assist and 2 rebounds. Carter Myers provided the bulk of the inside game to the tune of 17 points, along with 6 boards and 2 blocks.
Ten of Myers’ points came in the third quarter when the Vikings pulled away to a 51-30 lead.
Sawyer Weston chipped in with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Hudson Pollock came off the bench to hit three 3s and net 11 points.
“They’re a special group of kids and have been playing together forever, long before I got here. I inherited five really good kids. They really care about the program above all things,” Tigers head coach Tyler Sanders said.
“Max (Albert) was under the weather tonight. But it was good to see them enjoy basketball together.”
Galion (7-12, 5-8) started the senior quintet of Brant Walker, Jack Rinehart, Quinn Miller, Albert, and Jaxon Manley.
“River Valley is the best team in the area,” Sanders said. “This year, even with the good teams, we find ourselves in it in the first half. It was 24-20 and we had a brain fart in the final 35 seconds. Same thing with Harding where we had the lead. Our margin of error with inexperience is pretty slim.”
It was during that time that River Valley scored 7 points as Smith hit a 3 and Owen Osting and Myers added baskets to give the visitors a 31-20 halftime advantage.
The talented Marion County squad composed itself.
“The kids responded to what I said at halftime. I’m proud of them battling through a slow start for us. The 2-3 we’ve seen .. but for some reason it gave us problems tonight,” Brown said of Galion’s zone defense.
The Vikings’ style of play is relentless.
“The MO is play hard. Shoot it. Go get it. Go get it again. The ball’s on the floor, go get it and they did that in the second half.”
Jameson Glew led the Tigers with 17 points off the bench. Colton Flynn added 7 markers.
“We want to continue to push the young guys to work hard in the off-season. It’s hard to catch your opponents during the season. You need to catch them in the offseason, so we’ll give them 30 days after the season ends and then they need to be in the weight room,” Sanders said of his youthful squad.
Galion wraps up regular season action hosting Mansfield Senior Tuesday and at Marion Harding Thursday.
“We’ve got to start catching up and adapting to varsity basketball,” Sanders noted.
“We had three tough games, including tonight, heading into the tournament. I think we needed those to prepare us. It’s a gauntlet.”
River Valley closes at Cardington Saturday, hosting Ontario Tuesday and Clear Fork Friday, followed by Bloom-Carroll in a make-up game.
“We’re trying to expand what we do and grow every game. We’ve got lofty goals,” Brown said.
“We’re kind of happy that win should secure us the one seed in the Central District. So that’s pretty big for these guys and myself.”
Brown said he’s told his team it can author its own tale.
“It’s your story to write. Write something that somebody wants to read and write what we want to go back and read.”
Box score
River Valley 11 20 20 26 — 77
Galion 7 13 10 11 — 41
River Valley (16-2, 11-1 N10): Shots 33-59; 3-pt. shots 8-17 (Hudson Pollock 3, Sawyer Weston 2, Luke Axline, Chase Ebert, Chase Smith); Free throws 3-6; Rebounds 22 (Carter Myers 6); Turnovers 7. Scoring: Owen Osting 2 0 4, Sawyer Weston 6 0 14, Luke Axline 1 0 3, Chase Ebert 8 1 18, Chase Smith 3 0 7, Hudson Pollock 4 0 11, Carter Myers 8 1 17, Eli Snyder 1 0 2, Ellis McFarland 0 1 1.
Galion (7-12, 5-8 N10): Shots 17-34; 3-pt. shots 5-12 (Jameson Glew 3, Dominic Capretta, Colton Flynn); Free throws 2-4; Rebounds 11 (Dominic Capretta 3, Christian Bare 3); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Jameson Glew 6 2 17, Dominic Capretta 2 0 5, Colton Flynn 3 0 7, Parker Tinch 1 0 2, Christian Bare 2 0 4, Quinn Miller 1 0 2, Max Albert 1 0 2, Jaxon Manley 1 0 2.
JV: River Valley 49-42.