Teays Valley Remains Unbeaten in MSL With Win Over Circleville

Article Presented By Pickaway Ross CTC…

The Teays Valley Vikings ran their Mid State League-Buckeye record to (4-0) with a 53-48 home victory over Circleville Friday night, as league play ceases heading into the Christmas Holiday break.

While the Vikings led after each stop, they did find themselves trailing the Tigers 10-4 early in the first quarter, before going on a 9-0 run to close the opening quarter for a 13-11 lead. After building a 20-11 advantage, Teays Valley saw Circleville go on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 20-18 before the Vikings closed the half with a 24-20 lead.

Teays Valley held leads of 26-20 and 40-33 in the third period, only to see the Tigers battle back to within 40-38 with 6:54 remaining in the game. The Vikings saw their lead grow to 48-41 with an 8-1 spurt, but Circleville closed the gap to 49-46 and later 51-48 before TV put the game away at the free throw line for the 53-48 final score.

The Vikings were propelled by Kole Nungester’s 16 points and 6 rebounds, followed by Sam Miller’s 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Brody Fields added 13 points and Luke Burgett 7. Cavin McDowell’s 4 points, 4 rebounds and sticky defense helped him garner Litter Media Radio’s McDonald’s Player of the Game co-honors with teammate Sam Miller.

Circleville was led by Briley Cramer’s 15 points, Ed Kirk 13, Jack Kline and Slater Search each scored 6 points, with Search grabbing 11 rebounds. Preston Hulse and Riley Jenkins added 5 and 3 points respectively.

The free throw line proved to be the difference in the game. Both teams connected on 20 field goals, but the Vikings were 10/13 at the foul line while Circleville was 4/8. The Tigers were also hampered by 9 turnovers compared to 4 for the Vikes. Teays Valley edged Circleville in rebounding 22-21.

Teays Valley improves to (4-0/5-1) while Circleville dropped to (1-3/3-3). Less than 10 points separate the Tigers from being an unbeaten team, losing their three games by margins of 4, 1 and 5 points.