Tiger boys fall in sectional title game
LOGAN — Vinton County proved Saturday why it is the top seed in the Division II Southeast District tournament.
The Vikings (21-2) jumped out to an early 12-2 lead, withstood a Marietta High rally, and pulled away in the second half to earn a 75-62 win and a sectional championship at Jim Myers Gymnasium.
Tristan Bartoe scored a game-high 24 points for Vinton County, and teammate Derick Jones added 19.
Vinton County, ranked No. 10 in Division II, came in as the top seed while the Tigers (14-10) were the eighth-seed.
“I think our guys were confident, but I was worried,” said VCHS head coach Matt Combs. “It’s not very often you play a 14-win team in an eighth-seed. Unfortunately, that’s sort of the way it’s set up, and it’s not very fair to them either. They’re pretty good, and I told people this isn’t a typical one-seed playing an eight-seed because that’s not the way it was. A lot of people will tell you, a lot of years Marietta would’ve been a five-seed. It just happened to be that our sectional was really loaded.”
The Tigers were led by Isaac Danford’s 16 points. Trent Dawson and Zach Deskins added 14 and 11 points, respectively. Tiger head coach Glenn Dawson, whose team’s season came to a close Saturday, felt his squad had a tough tournament draw.
“We certainly didn’t feel the seedings were fair to us,” coach Dawson said. “We felt that we’re much better than an eight-seed, and we didn’t get that respect that we deserved. It is what it is.
“We came in and manned up and every kid gave the effort they needed to give to come in here and compete.”
Vinton County saw its 12-2 lead dwindle to 14-9 by the end of the first period. In the second, MHS got within two, 24-22, on Dawson’s layup, but the Vikings closed the half on a 10-2 run to lead 34-24.
From there, Deskins’ 3-pointer got MHS within seven, 36-29, but the Tigers couldn’t draw any closer.
“We broke down a little bit defensively,” said Marietta’s coach of the second half. “They got a couple runouts on us. We gave up some and-ones at the hoop that made a little bit of the difference.”
Bartoe added 10 rebounds for the winners to post a double-double. Dane Speakman finished in double figures with 11 points as the Vikings shot 51 percent (25 for 49) from the field.
“Everything was working well for them,” coach Dawson said. “We gave them everything we had, we just didn’t have the baskets falling for us. We gave a good effort. These kids battled, and that’s what they did all year.”
Danford registered a double-double for the Tigers, adding 12 boards to his 16-point effort. Travis Moore chipped in 10 rebounds.
The Vikings won despite turning the ball over 20 times. However, the Tigers committed 22 turnovers themselves in their season-ending loss.
“Marietta’s really good at turning you over,” Combs admitted. “They press a lot. That’s their game and there’s no team they’ve played that hasn’t been subject to that a little bit.”
Saturday’s loss was the final varsity basketball game for MHS seniors Danford, Deskins, Moore, Trent Dawson, Turner Hill, Brandon Neville and Danny Hiser.