Vikes, Lions to meet in semis
Feb. 29—LOOGOOTEE — If Indiana's most heated rivalry was going to take place again on Friday night in Sectional 63, both Barr-Reeve and Loogootee had work to do on Wednesday night at Jack Butcher Sports Arena in Loogootee. In the opener, the Viking half-court defense overwhelmed Washington Catholic 91-13 to pick up their 21st win on the year, and move to the semi-final round on Friday night.
The Vikings led 22-5 after a quarter, and held the Cardinals scoreless in the second to lead 50-5 at halftime. Viking Coach Josh Thompson went deep into his bench in all four quarters, as Barr-Reeve forced a running clock for the entire second half.
Barr-Reeve's reserves played almost entirely in the second half, and Senior Alec Wagler worked for a career-high 17 points, including 11 in the first half. Braydon Knepp also added 15 for the Vikes, while Donnie Miller ended with 14. The Vikings improved to 21-2 on the season, while the Cardinals ended their season 2-20.
"I thought we came in with a very business-like attitude, our bench was really in the game, and we got contributions from our entire team. These are a group of guys that really understand when it's time to get to work, and I've really enjoyed that about them all year long," said Thompson.
In the second game at Loogootee, the home-standing Lions opened a 17-5 lead in the first quarter, and while Springs Valley rallied at different times, the Blackhawks could never tie or take the lead, and Loogootee closed out the game to win 60-47.
Springs Valley closed the first half on a 6-0 run, and scored the first bucked of the second half to close to 25-23, Loogootee again quickly pushed out their lead with a 9-1 run of their own to reopen a double figure lead. The Lions settled to a 38-30 advantage after three, and finished the game with several basket drives and free throws to win the final period 22-17 to improve to 16-6 on the season.
Loogootee held Valley's Deon Edwards to 15 points, which is nearly nine under his season average of 24 points per game. AJ Foster led all scorers with 17, and was followed by Leighton Jeffers with 14, and Brandon Bledsoe with 12.
Barr-Reeve and Loogootee will play in the second game on Friday night, following the Orleans/Rivet game which will begin at 6 p.m. The Vikes claimed a close 43-41 win over the Lions just six weeks ago.
In the other game, Vincennes Rivet will take on Orleans.
