Vinton County 51
Jackson 82 a final …

… the Ironmen of Coach Morrow rolled into McArtur with a 15-2 record , the only blemishes on the JHS pocket schedule one to Chillicothe at home -14, loss #2 to Wheelersburg by -2 on the second day of a B2B (for JHS the game 1 was AT Elite 8/defensive minded Unioto AT the U) … looking at the VC schedule entering this matchup the Vikings quality opponents were -26 vs Zane Trace, -13 vs Athens and -11 vs Fairfield Union … on paper, looking at the matchup Jackson sits at #3 , Vinton County (10-4 pre game) at #21 … top 25 team MIGHT be able to hang with Elite 8 #3 for 1 or 2 quarters UNLESS #3 has a few players battling the flu bug, one of those players the best PG Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line AND the #21 team is led courtside by one of the BEST coaches in SEOhio … THEN one has to think – hmmmmmmmm I’ve seen Jackson 3 times prior to last night, Vinton County ? Nada … THEN you have to wonder – are the rankings worth the paper(screen)they’re printed on – after watching the game imo the rankings of each team are/were right on the money … Jackson 82 Vinton County 51 a final …

… Vinton County is a club which starts 3 seniors( Will Arthur 2 points/Gavin Arbaugh – 13 points/Aaron Stevens 5 points) /1 soph (Zane Karr 2 pts) 1 junior Lance Montgomery (17 pts) … the first off the bench 2 sophs & a junior (Eli Radabaugh & Braylon Damron sophs … Esiason herrold a junior) … having watched the freshman, JV games as well VC has size, quality perimeter scorers, PGs in the pipeline … the 3 seniors put up 20 of the VC 51 points … 31 to underclassman … VC HAS a bright future AND they are not out of a possible 3 way tie at the TVC Ohio when all is said a done ! … On this night vs my #3 VC DID stay in the game for about 2 1/2 quarters – one must DEFINE “stay in the game” … the Vikings were within striking distance of the Ironmen which means that IF they got a stop or two AND hit a couple of shots THEN VC would be in a 2 possession game … the quarter scoring :

Jackson ….. 15 …. 28 …. 19 …. 20 – 82
Vinton Co … 12 …. 19 …. 15 …. 5 – 51

… running qtr scores:

Jackson …. 15 …. 43 …. 62 …. 82
Vinton Co .. 12 …. 31 …. 46 …. 51

… at the 5:32 mark of the 3rd a Jackson timeout … JHS leading by 10 points 47 – 37 … from the 5:32 to the end of the 3rd Jackson when on a 15-9 run … the final quarter Jackson 20 – 5 … combined from 5:32 in the 3rd ALL Ironmen : 35-14 run to close this one out 82-51 … +31 for Jackson … 16-2 Jackson leaving McArthur while the Vikings dropped their 5th game at 10-5 on the season …

Vinton County was out of their league both literally and figuratively … Jackson had the best player on the court in PG Caleb Wallis … a player who doesn’t have to count on ANYONE to “get HIM the ball” … starting EVERY trip down court – whether that’s after a made bucket or in transition – with the ball , with the opportunity to “make a decision” ( keep it, take it to the rim, take to the elbow, take the 3 ball, take it baseline … ALL of the penetration with the ball either gets Wallis all the way to the rim OR more importantly imo gives CW a chance to make a decision/see the floor/find his teammates) ANY TIME Caleb Wallis has the ball in his hands the opposition is behind the 8 ball – he scores at the rim, he can kill you with the 3 ball, he penetrates AND FINDS teammates in the corner, cutting to the rim, behind the 3 point line … Wallis makes you pay , the entire Ironman TEAM makes you pay as Boston Kuhn/Griffin Brown/Wallis AND THE BEST ROLE PLAYER IN SEO – Caden Donaldson – ALL take and hit the 3 ball … Jackson went 9/15 from behind the line Kuhn/Wallis/Brown/Donaldson ALL with at least one triple … add to the mix Braxton Hammond who crashes the boards at both ends, gets out in transition where last night he finished above the rim for a transition dunk & 1 that brought the house down – put the exclamation on this one … Jackson 82 Vinton County 51 a final …

…Pfloyd’s official “UN-official” Napkin Stats – Vinton County

Scoring … Lance Montgomery 17, Gavin Arbaugh 13, Eli Radabaugh 6, Aaron Stevens 5, Esiason Herrold 4, Will Arthur 2, Zane Karr 2, Brock Hammon 2
3 Pointers … 4/20 … Eli Radabaugh 2, Gavin Arbaugh 1, Aaron Stevens 1
FTs …. 13/17
TOs …. 19
PnP …. 12 fgs/ 24 points in the paint
PnT … 1 fg / 2 points in transition
Pbk … 1 fg/ 2 points on putback buckets

… Coach Combs is one of the best in the last 20 seasons, in position with the injuries to Alexander, suspensions at Athens to either win or tie for the TVC Ohio and finish with 15 or 16 wins on the season … with what I saw on the freshman, JV and younin’s on varsity – the Vikings will be improving on this season’s record even IF VC finishes with 15-16 W’s … good talent over the next 5 years plus … I always enjoy making the short 30 minute trip to McArthur – always to run into the fine coaching staff around Coach Combs , fellow seops posters – Dundas good to see and chat last night !

… Pfloyd’s official “UN-official” Napkin Stats – Jackson …

Scoring … Caleb Wallis 29, Caden Donaldson 12, Braxton Hammond 9, Evan Evans 8, Drew Bragg 6, Jacob Winter 6, Griffin Brown 5, Boston Kuhn 5, Nate Woodard 2

3 Pointers …. 9/15 … Caleb Wallis 4, Caden Donaldon 3, Griffin Brown 1, Boston Kuhn 1
FTs ……. 13/15
TOs …… 14
PnP …… 21 fgs/ 42 points in the paint
PnT ….. 8 fgs/16 points in transition
Pbk ….. 5 fgs/ 10 points on putback buckets

… last night was my 4th look at Jackson … last week vs Alexander MIGHT have been a better overall game at both ends of the floor but last night wasn’t bad ! Caleb Wallis showed his importance , the importance an outstanding PG can make in a team , to make a TEAM … CW made a double take spin move at full speed, into the paint, to the rim and finish that made me smile, chuckle, shake my head AND say to anyone who was listening “THAT just isn’t fair” LOL … my point in the semi rundown was to emphasize HOW good CW is ! – he CAN/DOES score EVERY WAY possible .. but his biggest value is that HE is a true PG … HE KNOWS where his teammates ARE, HE LOOKS FOR/FINDS his teammates in the spots on the floor where they can score – at the rim, beyond the 3 point line – doesn’t matter, he LOOKS FOR & FINDS THEM ALL … CW didn’t score 82 points ! the Jackson TEAM scored 82 points which means the Ironmen TEAM has a lot of excellent role players – Brown/Kuhn/Bragg/Hammond/Donaldson/Winter/Spires – who ALL contribute in every way on the napkin stat sheet … who ALL make what Caleb Wallis does as a PG work – if they don’t finish or couldn’t finish JHS isn’t the TEAM that it is … heck I haven’t even touched on the Apple’town D – I’ll save it for another game as pfloyd WILL be in the cheap seats to watch Jackson again …

… Great watching the games in VC last night with Warren’s Coach Maddox and Coach Mitchem … always good to touch bases with Coach Morrow & his staff as well … Coach Morrow’s father, Dan Morrow made his way to the cheap seats to say hello last night … Mr. Donaldson ! always a pleasure to see you when I come to see the Ironmen – your son is one of the reasons the Ironmen are what they are – excellent … 16-2 … I92 as always was in the house ! good to run into you on the way out my friend … lastly – for those of us who were there for all 3 games last night, Coach Terry Hale the general courtside for VC’s freshman squad did a great thing to open the evening … the 2 teams agreed to allow VC to get the tip, VC held the ball for 8 seconds, then called a 24 sec timeout in respect for the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant … upon taking out the ball after the 24 sec TO moment of silence … VC took it out, and gave the ball over to the Jackson team who worked with VC to make this showing of respect happen. Nice job Coach Hale … although I expect nothing less from the coaching staff at VC – a class act all …