They contested shots, usually limiting Nitro to one shot and then using the rebound to start fast breaks. With the game comfortably in hand in the fourth quarter, the Vikings continued to make life difficult for the Wildcats when they had the ball. Ripley outscored the Wildcats 25-8 in the third to take a 60-22 advantage into the final stanza. Johnson had a big put-back dunk that was followed by a steal and layup by Hunt to stretch the Viking lead to 54-20 with a little over a minute in the quarter.
Layhew was a force in paint, getting several second chance buckets off rebounds, while Johnson got to the basket at will. In the second half, the Vikings’ perimeter shooting freed up Johnson and Layhew inside, where they took over.
“We made some shots,” Faulkner said, “We had balanced scoring, with a lot of guys putting the ball in the hole tonight. The Vikings stretched the lead to 28-8 off a Riffe three pointer midway through the quarter, before closing the half with a 35-14 lead. Hunt, McKinney, Casto and junior Elijah Riffe all did a good job of exploiting the zone defense and knocking down open shots, while the Viking defense continued to choke off the paint and contest Nitro jumpers. The second quarter continued the misery for the Wildcats, as the Vikings perimeter shooting continued to be locked in. The Vikings largest lead was 18-2, as they closed out the first quarter with a 20-4 lead. The early run was highlighted by an early alley-oop from point guard Jamison Hunt to Johnson and three point bombs from Hunt, senior Logan McKinney and junior Eli Casto. They blistered the Wildcats in both shooting and rebounding, making 23-51 shots (45%) and outrebounding the visitors 49-22 on the night. We hadn’t seen them play any zone, so given the circumstances, I thought we handled it well.”Ĭertainly, the Vikings were undeterred by the Nitro zone defense.
really tried to pack it in on us and limit Chase and Luke could do inside. “I thought we came out ready to play,” Faulkner said, “The guys did a good job of preparing and we made some shots early. Junior Chase Johnson (21 points, 17 boards) and senior Luke Layhew (20 points, 16 rebounds) each posted a double-double, while the rest of the Vikings chipped in with a strong effort on both ends of the floor. The Vikings jumped all over the visiting Wildcats early, using a 15-0 start to cruise to a dominating 74-52 win. RIPLEY – It didn’t take long for head coach Evan Faulkner’s Ripley Vikings to get the upper hand on the Nitro Wildcats in Wednesday night’s season opener.
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