Vikings top G-T/R-A

  The Ventura boys went 1-1 in conference basketball action last week, with a win over Graettinger-Terrill/Ruthven-Aryshire and a loss to Clay Central-Everly.  The Viking’s conference record stands at 6-5 and their overall record is 6-11.
  Ventura 43, G-T/R-A 34

    The Vikings came out strong against conference foe Graettinger-Terrill/Ruthven-Aryshire and never looked back as they picked up a 43-34 win on Tuesday night, Jan. 24.
    Ventura was ready to play Tuesday night when they took the floor in Ruthven, picking up a 15-3 first quarter lead.
    A balanced scoring attack by the Vikings in the second quarter gave them a 29-13 halftime advantage.
    The third quarter went to the Raiders, as they outscored a cold shooting Ventura team, 13-6.  G-T/R-A closed the gap to 35-26 by the end of the third quarter.
    “The deciding factor of this game turned out to who turned the ball over the least amount of time,” said Coach Chad Brown.  “The gym at Ruthven is smaller than we’re used to and it was a packed house, so that all played into the game, too.”
    During the fourth quarter, the Raiders got to within seven points before the Vikings put the game away for good with a final score of 43-34.
    “Something that has really been improving for us is our free throw shooting,” said Brown.  “Toppin was seven for 10 and Watson was five for seven from the line, which is a pretty good percentage.  Another factor was that the free throw timing was good, shooting six of eight as a team in the fourth quarter.”
    Joel Toppin was the leading scorer with 17 points.  Joel Watson was next with nine points.  Rounding out the scoring was James Stephenson with seven, Jace Byers connected for four and Ryan Schmitz, Shawn Murphy and Josh Theobald each had two points.
    Watson led the team under the boards with a team high seven rebounds.  Byers wasn’t far behind with six boards.  Schmitz, Stephenson and Murphy each had three rebounds.
    Schmitz led the team in steals with - Read More Via e-Edition