River Valley Edges Unioto in Regional Overtime Heartbreaker

Article Presented By Ross Chillicothe Convention & Visitor’s Bureau…

The (24-2) River Valley Vikings overcame a double-digit second quarter deficit to defeat the (23-4) Unioto Shermans 66-65 in overtime in the Division 4 Regional Semis at Ohio University Thursday night.

Unioto held the lead for almost 27 minutes of the game and at the end of the first three quarters, 23-15, 33-32, and 50-42, but could not hold-off River Valley late charge. The Shermans led 52-44 midway through the fourth quarter, only to see the Vikings pull to within 52-51 with 4:13 to play in regulation. Unioto surged to a 54-51 advantage with RV answering to even the score 54-54. After the Tanks regained the lead at 56-54, Carter Myers responded to even the score 56-56 and held Unioto on a last second scoring chance to send the game to overtime.

River Valley scored first in the OT on a three-ball by Myers, and never trailed again. The Vikings surged to a 65-60 lead, but Unioto cut the margin to 65-63 on a Blake Hoops trey. After a Vikings free throw for a 66-63 lead, Unioto had one last possession which resulted in a KB Perkins field goal under the bucket making it 66-65 with three seconds remaining and River Valley held the ball out of bounds as time expired.

River Valley was led by Carter Myers’ 21 points and 12 rebounds. Sawyer Weston scored 19 points, Chase Smith 11, Chase Ebert 6, Owen Osting 4, Eli Snyder 3, and Hudson pollock with 2 points.

Unioto was led by Blake Hoops’ 17 points and 9 rebounds. KB Perkins added 14 points, Blake Fitch and Caden Cutright each scored 13 points, while Isaac Coy and Jack Welch each scored 4 points.

The Vikings shot 22/44- including 7/18 from the arc for 50%. They added 15/22 from the charity stripe, grabbed 29 rebounds and committed 12 turnovers.

Unioto was 20/48 from the field- including 8/15 from the arc for 42%. They added 17/23 from the foul line, hauled-in 27 rebounds and committed 13 turnovers.