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Host Vikings swept by Brown County

Andy Amey, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·6 min read

Dec. 16—Not surprisingly, the West Vigo offense doesn't run quite as smoothly without Zeke Tanoos.

Coach Joe Boehler, who is probably tired of getting morning phone calls on game day, learned just before noon that his four-year leading scorer was ill and unavailable for Saturday's 5:30 p.m. Western Indiana Conference high school basketball game in the Jim Mann Green Dome. The Vikings shot 31% from the field and gave up the last nine points of the first half and the last five of the game, losing 54-47 to Brown County.

West Vigo's girls, on the other hand, had perhaps their best offensive quarter of the season in the first period of the opener of the WIC doubleheader, but couldn't maintain that pace and lost 50-35.

Boehler's team was missing a sick starter for the second time in five days.

"Again, at the last minute, we were making adjustments to the game plan," said Boehler, whose team was without Ryan Smith earlier in the week against Terre Haute North (and isn't very deep to begin with).

The Vikings started slowly as a result, going without scoring for the first four minutes of the game, but by the second quarter seemed to have adjusted. West Vigo went on a 10-3 run that included six points by freshman Gavin Deighton and had a 22-17 lead less than three minutes before intermission. But then the Eagles went on their half-closing run.

"I didn't think we valued every possession," Boehler said after the game. "At the end of the half, it seemed like there were two or three turnovers that led to [the Eagles] walking in and shooting layups."

Brown County was cold at the start of the third quarter and two baskets by Trentin Chambers — elevated to the starting lineup for a second time — scored twice to tie the score. But Brown County's Cash Harden, who had seven of those last nine second-quarter points, stayed hot and the Eagles were back on top 39-36 after three quarters.

The Vikings, who shot 22% after halftime, never caught up. It was 49-47 and West Vigo got the ball back, but a steal resulted in two free throws for Harden and the Vikings didn't score again.

"I thought [the Eagles] were very scrappy," coach Boehler said afterward. "We couldn't seem to get stops."

Harden had 26 points for Brown County and Matt Horn had 10 points and nine rebounds. Garrett Pugh had 15 points and 12 rebounds for West Vigo, while Talan Boehler scored 14 and Chambers had seven points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

West Vigo's girls, anticipating Brown County's perpetual full-court press, riddled that defense early in the game and had leads of 6-0, 11-5 and 13-8 while hitting seven of 11 shots in the first quarter.

But the Eagles' physical defense began forcing turnovers and their volume shooting eventually paid off (26% shooting on 67 field goal attempts). The Vikings were still within 22-19 at halftime, fell behind 36-22 in the third quarter, then rallied back to within 38-29 early in the fourth period before giving up a decisive 10-2 run.

Lexie Austin had 21 points and was one of three Eagles with 10 rebounds while Ava Stogsdill had 12 points, eight rebounds and 11 steals. For the Vikings, Delaney Marrs and Jaycee Elkins both scored eight points and Hannah Stepp had seven points and eight rebounds.

"We're trending in the right directon," coach Jonathan Kirchoff said.

Boys game

BROWN COUNTY (54) — C.Harden 11-12 2-6 26, Bond 1-2 0-0 2, J.Hubbard 1-3 0-0 2, Horn 5-10 0-2 10, Wrightsman 2-10 1-2 6, B.Hubbard 0-1 0-0 0, Lewis 1-3 0-0 2, E.Harden 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 24-46 FG, 3-10 FT, 54 TP.

WEST VIGO (47) — Boehler 4-14 4-4 14, Fields 0-2 0-0 0, Pugh 5-13 5-9 15, Chambers 3-13 0-0 7, Smith 1-5 3-4 5, Deighton 2-2 2-3 6, Easton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 FG, 14-20 FT, 47 TP.

Brown County 10 16 13 15 — 54

West Vigo 8 14 14 11 — 47

3-point shooting — BC 3-12 (C.Harden 2-2, Wrightsman 1-7, B.Hubbard 0-1, E.Harden 0-2), WV 3-18 (Boehler 2-9, Chambers 1-6, Smith 0-1, Fields 0-2). Total fouls — BC 22, WV 13. Fouled out — none. Turnovers — BC 17, WV 17. Rebounds — BC 31 (Horn 9), WV 37 (Chambers 14, Pugh 12, Deighton 4, Boehler, Fields, Team 5). Assists — BC 7 (C.Harden 2, Horn 2, Wrightsman 2), WV 8 (Pugh 2, Chambers 2, Smith 2, Boehler, Fields). Steals — BC 13 (Wrightsman 5), WV 9 (Pugh 3, Boehler 2, Fields, Chambers, Smith, Deighton). Blocks — BC 0, WV 0.

Next — West VIgo (4-4, 3-2 WIC) plays at Terre Haute South on Dec. 26 in the First Financial Wabash Valley Classic. Brown County (5-3, 3-1) is at Henryville on Dec. 28.

Girls game

BROWN COUNTY (50) — Kemp 2-3 0-0 4, Austin 6-22 6-8 21, An.Stogsdill 3-8 0-0 7, Av.Stogsdill 4-21 4-4 12, Huff 3-7 0-0 6, Tipton 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 18-67 FG, 10-12 FT, 50 TP.

WEST VIGO (35) — Marrs 3-5 0-0 8, Elkins 4-6 0-2 8, Stepp 2-9 2-2 7, Belleu 2-4 0-0 4, Ramirez 1-6 2-2 4, Stark 0-0 0-0 0, Knopp 1-2 0-0 2, Vester 1-2 0-0 2, Strole 0-0 0-0 0, Bigger 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-35 FG, 4-6 FT, 35 TP.

Brown County 15 7 16 12 — 50

West Vigo 15 4 8 8 — 35

3-point shooting — BC 4-22 (Austin 3-13, An.Stogsdill 1-2, Av.Stogsdill 0-2, Tipton 0-2, Huff 0-3), WV 3-9 (Marrs 2-3, Stepp 1-4, Elkins 0-2). Total fouls — BC 10, WV 11. Fouled out — none. Turnovers — BC 9, WV 25. Rebounds — BC 42 (Austin 10, An.Stogsdill 10, Huff 10), WV 32 (Stepp 8, Marrs 6, Elkins 4, Ramirez 2, Knopp 2, Belleu, Stark, Vester, Team 7). Assists — BC 12 (Huff 4), WV 7 (Belleu 2, Marrs, Stepp, Ramirez, Stark, Strole). Steals — BC 16 (Av.Stogsdill 11), WV 7 (Marrs 2, Stepp 2, Elkins, Belleu, Ramirez). Blocks — BC 3 (Av.Stogsdill 3), WV 1 (Stepp).

Next — West Vigo (1-11, 0-6 WIC) plays Terre Haute North on Dec. 22 at Northview in the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic. Brown County (6-4, 5-2) is at Bloomington South on Jan. 2.