PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Viking offensive struggles continue

Dec. 19—DANVILLE — Almost halfway into the season and the Danville Vikings are being defined by their offensive execution.

In 10 games this season, the Vikings have scored 65 or more points in four of those contests and they are 3-1.

But when Danville scores less than 65, they are now 0-6 including a pair of losses this past week against Peoria Notre Dame (48-33) on Friday night and Castle of Newburgh, Ind. (59-48) on Saturday afternoon in the Evansville Bosse Winter Challenge.

On Friday night, the problem for the Vikings were turnovers.

While this is the season for fruity holiday turnovers to go along Christmas cookies, Danville was serving the basketball variety of turnovers on the court against Peoria Notre Dame.

The Vikings finished with 22 offensive miscues — 14 in the first half — as the seventh-rated Irish cruised to a victory in a Big 12 Conference contest.

"Too many turnovers," Danville coach Durrell Robinson said. "We are just trying to do too much at certain times, when it's easier to use your teammates."

Notre Dame (3-5 overall, 1-1 in the Big 12) used a 1-2-2 three-quarter trap defense with 6-foot- 8 Eoin Dillon and 6-8 Eliot Lynch playing key roles at the top of defense along with 6-5 Thomas Graham.

So was that height a problem for Danville, which doesn't have a single player taller than 6-4?

"They are long and big, but we just tried to throw it over them," Danville junior guard Ja'Vaughn Robinson said. "I just think we got nervous with the ball when they started to trap and we just turned it over.

"We have to start limiting our turnovers, if we want to be successful."

Even with 14 first-half turnovers, the Vikings (3-7 overall, 0-2 in the conference) trailed the Irish by just 4 points (18-14) at halftime.

That quickly changed in the second half.

Notre Dame opened the third quarter with a 17-1 run as Danville didn't make its first shot of the second half until there was just 57 seconds left in the period.

"That's the difference between a winning mentality and a trying to learn how to win mentality," Durrell Robinson said. "When you have as many turnovers as we had in the first half and you still have a chance to win — you don't come out flat in the second half. That just shows where we are mentality as a team.

"It's all about our approach to the game. The way you practice is the way that you will play. We need to understand that the little things matter more than anything and it all adds up. We are looking for leadership and accountability."

Sophomore A'Jani Davis, making his first varsity start, was the team's leading scorer on Friday night with 12 points.

"He was very active on the glass and around the rim," said Durrell Robinson.

Davis is the fifth different player to lead the Vikings in scoring this season. Ja'Vaughn Robinson, who had 20 last week at Peoria High, was held to just 4 against Notre Dame.

"I just have to hit shots and execute when I can," he said.

Senior Devan Larkin had seven, while junior Jerry Reed had 6 and junior C.L. Dye was held scoreless.

"Consistency is another thing that we need to find," Durrell Robinson said. "If we can just get a couple guys that we can count on to score each night, we have a chance to be pretty good.

"But, right now we might have one or two good on one night and then we have someone else the next night. We just never have all of them playing well together on the same night."

In the junior-varsity game, Danville defeated Peoria Notre Dame 49-47 on a last-second basket by Jaymion Avery, who finished with a team-high 12 points.

The inconsistent play continued to Saturday for the Vikings.

The Castle Knights outscored Danville 17-7 in the game's first quarter and cruised onto a 11-point victory.

Ja'Vaughn Robinson and Devan Larkin combined to scored 30 points for the Vikings with Dye, Reed and Davis combining for 15. Jentezen Harris had a 3-pointer and he was the only player to score off of the Danville bench.

Danville will attempt to snap a four-game losing streak this Wednesday when the Vikings host the Galesburg Silver Streaks. Tipoff of the junior-varsity game is set for 5 p.m. with the varsity contest tentatively set for 6:30 p.m.

Friday's box score At Danville Peoria Notre Dame 48, Danville 33

Notre Dame (48) — Ted LaHood 3 1-1 7, Kayden Hudson 4 3-6 11, Liam O'Neill 0 0-0 0, Jack Campbell 1 0-0 3, Thomas Graham 4 0-0 8, Eoin Dillon 5 0-0 12, Eliot Lynch 2 3-5 7. Totals: 19 7-12 48.

Danville (33) — Ja'Vaughn Robinson 1 2-2 4, Devan Larkin 2 1-2 7, C.L. Dye 0 0-2 0, Demarcus Lucas 1 0-0 2, Jentezen Harris 0 0-0 0, Darius Jay 1 0-0 2, Jerry Reed III 3 0-0 6, Persiris Menifield 0 0-0 0, A'Jani Davis 5 2-4 12. Totals: 13 5-10 33.

Notre Dame 10 8 21 9 — 48

Danville 8 6 6 13 — 33

3-pointers — Notre Dame 3 (Dillon 2, Campbell). Danville 2 (Larkin 2). Total fouls — Notre Dame 11, Danville 18. Fouled out — none. Officials — Kevin Coughenour, Nathan Howie, Argie Johnson.

Records — Notre Dame 3-5 overall, 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference. Danville 3-6 overall, 0-2 in the Big 12.

JV score — Danville 49, Peoria Notre Dame 47.

Saturday's box score At Evansville Bosse Castle 59, Danville 48

Danville (48) — Ja'Vaughn Robinson 5 2-2 16, Devan Larkin 6 0-0 14, CL Dye 3 1-2 7, Demarcus Lucas 0 0-0 0, Jentezen Harris 1 0-0 3, Jerry Reed 2 0-0 6, A'Jani Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 3-4 48.

Castle (59) — Brady Reiter 3 0-2 6, Aiden Meyer 1 0-0 3, Xander Niehaus 2 0-0 4, Jakob Wongler 4 0-0 9, Ayden Mcatee 5 2-2 12, Adler Mcatee 3 1-1 9, John Aigner 2 0-0 4, Ryan Lambert 6 0-2 12. Totals: 26 3-7 59.

Danville 7 15 10 16 — 48

Castle 17 11 10 21 — 59

3-pointers — Danville 9 (Robinson 4, Larkins 2, Reed 2, Harris 1). Castle 4 (Ad.Mcatee 2, Meyer 1, Wongler 1) Total fouls — Danville 11, Castle 5. Fouled out — none.

Records — Danville 3-7 overall. Castle 2-3 overall.