John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
MINFORD — In a battle of Southern Ohio Conference Goliaths, Minford had just enough juice left in its tank to knock off Valley on Friday night.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
In a 61-57 win, the Falcons (2-0, 2-0 SOC II) were led by a trio of sophomores in Myles Montgomery, Jackson Shoemaker and Bennett Kayser — who combined for 51 points and 20 rebounds in an important early season victory.
“We knew we had to come out and get going early,” Montgomery said. “I missed two shots at the beginning and then I finally started to get rolling a little bit. Down the stretch, I couldn’t hit anything. But my teammates, Jackson came up clutch, and other teammates starting hitting some shots. It gave us a big win.”
The Indians got off to a quick start, thanks in part to big man Levi Stewart.
The 6-foot-7 senior blocked three shots in the first four minutes of play and scored four points to give Valley (1-1, 1-1 SOC II) a quick 10-4 lead. A couple of deep 3-pointers from Montgomery helped to draw Minford even at the end of the opening quarter by a 12-12 tally.
The second saw the teams trade the lead multiple times, while also featuring several ties as well. Valley junior Jace Copley started to put his fingerprints on the game, knocking down back-to-back 3s to end the half, giving the Indians a 26-23 lead at the break.
As the game went on, neither team could impose their will on the other, still trading leads throughout the third quarter as well.
Montgomery splashed his third triple of the game with 1:07 left in the third, but Valley senior George Arnett immediately answered that 3 with one of his own to temporarily give the Indians a lead. Montgomery then answered with a deep 3 from the right wing to give the Falcons a 40-39 edge after three quarters.
Montgomery paced the Falcons with 20 points through three quarters, but it would be his classmates who did the heavy lifting in the fourth and final frame.
With Montgomery getting extra attention, it opened up Shoemaker on the inside, where Montgomery found him for layups three times in the final quarter alone. Kayser drilled a big trey from the right wing and senior Adam Crank finished a tough driving layup as well.
“I really does help us that we can go so deep off the bench,” Shoemaker said. “Those guys work so hard in practice and give us a burst of energy when they come in. We just play with them. They fit right in.”
However, the Indians were able to match shot for shot with the Falcons with big buckets from Arnett, Copley and Colt Buckle, all of whom were able to keep Valley within striking distance.
Down three with 3:10 to play, Copley picked off a pass at mid-court and finished at the rim through contact to earn an old-fashioned three-point play after converting the free throw.
After Shoemaker and Copley traded baskets, Crank hit the biggest shot of the night for the Falcons. With 1:25 to play, the senior got free in the right corner where he buried a 3 to give Minford a 54-51 lead late in the contest.
The Indians gave a valiant effort, but were never able to draw even or take the lead again. In the final 11.2 seconds of the game, Kayser stepped to the line four times and buried all four to close out the win.
“He’s a big part of this team,” Montgomery said of Kayser. “That’s especially true coming in as a sophomore and being his first year of varsity. It’s the same with [Shoemaker]. They were big down the stretch. I was talking to Bennett before those last free throws and I had faith in him. I knew he could knock them down.”
Statistically, Copley led all scorers with 23 points and also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. Arnett and Buckle each tallied 12 points for the Indians and Stewart closed out the evening with 10 points and six blocks.
For Minford, Montgomery led the Falcons with 22 points while Shoemaker scored 18 — 14 of which came in the second half. Kayser also helped out, posting a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Minford is back in action on Saturday evening, facing Greenup County (Ky.) at Shawnee State University. Meanwhile, the Indians return to the floor on Tuesday, hosting South Webster.
“We still have a bunch to work on,” Montgomery said. “We’re going to have a lot of nights where we’re not going to be hitting shots. But we have to come out, go to the rim and overcome adversity. We just have to go out there and get it done.”
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