Paint Valley utilizes hot start to power past Piketon
PIKETON − Paint Valley wanted to play at its own pace against Piketon, but it needed a foothold first.
Coach Jason Smith knew his players needed a jolt on offense to gain the upper hand on Friday night. The last thing he wanted was for the Bearcats to get bogged down while working past the Redstreaks' defense.
The Bearcats found their footing sooner rather than later. They capitalized on an early scoring run and cruised to a 65-31 win over the Redstreaks. Four of the Bearcats ended the game in double figures, and they notched their third game this season in which they've held an opponent under 40 points..
"Any time you go on the road in the SVC, it's going to be tough," Smith said. "Piketon presents a challenge with their 1-3-1. If you're not prepared for it, and you're not moving the basketball and hitting shots, you can play their game. We wanted to get a fast start and we wanted to play the way we wanted to play."
It didn't take long for the Bearcats to find a rhythm. Dax Estep and Braylon Robertson spurred an immediate 9-0 run after tipoff and handed the Bearcats a lead they held until the clock ran out. Estep, who ended his night with a game-high 17 points, drained his first three field goal attempts of the game and went 4-for-6 from the field in the first quarter. Robertson tied Carson Free with 12 points, and he led both squads with a game-high three 3-pointers.
Declan Davis and Bo Henry responded to Estep and Robertson's run after tacking on five points for the Redstreaks, but the Bearcats didn't slow down. They racked up double-digits in every quarter while the Redstreaks fought for open looks.
Piketon never earned an easy shot. Paint Valley locked it in a stranglehold and refused to let go. A three-minute scoring drought by Piketon through the second quarter widened the divide. 20 turnovers by the end of the night made matters worse. Paint Valley held a 20-point lead at the break even after Gabe Lamerson and Brent McGuire drained back-to-back 3s in the final minute of the first half.
"It's a bad combination when you shoot 29 percent from the floor and you also turn it over 20 times," Piketon coach Kyle Miller said. "Those two together, turning it over a ton and shooting pretty bad from the floor, that's a recipe for disaster against a team like Paint Valley."
Lamerson and McGuire did what they could to keep Piketon afloat. Lamerson scored a team-high nine points off the bench, and McGuire led the starting rotation with eight points of his own. But Piketon was burned out by halftime, and Paint Valley had energy to spare.
Paint Valley scored 14 points in both the third and fourth quarters on Friday. Piketon scored 14 points in the entire second half.
A vicious defense only slowed the Redstreaks down further. The Bearcats forced seven steals in the fourth quarter and scored off of five of them. Smith was pleased with the Bearcats' defensive effort in the fourth quarter, but wants his players to maintain that consistency all game. With the postseason on the horizon, Smith plans to reemphasize consistency while the Bearcats are on defense.
"We are a defensive team and we're built on defense," Smith said. "For us to come out and and not give our best defensive effort doesn't sit well with us. They're capable of it because you saw it in the fourth quarter. They need to do it all game."
The Bearcats are riding a three-game winning streak as the final week of the regular season looms in the distance. Their offense has burned through opposing defenses as of late, and the results showed again on Friday.
All they needed was a jolt.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Paint Valley uses early scoring run to power past Piketon
