Hidden Valley head basketball coach Troy Wells often preaches patience to his team.
Tuesday night in the Titan gym the team practiced what he preached.
Turning around a somewhat lackluster performance in the first half, Hidden Valley used a strong fourth quarter to pull away for the 65-53 River Ridge District win over Blacksburg.
“The rebounding was better in the second half and the turnovers were better in the second half,” Wells said afterward. “In the fourth quarter we took care of the ball and shared the ball well. And, we finished on our shots.”
The game had started with sloppy play on both sides dominated by missed shots and turnovers. The Titans led 10-9 after one quarter and 18-12 midway through the second before Blacksburg went on a 12-5 run to take its last lead of the game at 24-23. Hidden Valley scored the last three points to go to the halftime break up 26-24. The Titans were their own worst enemy in the opening half, committing 18 turnovers.
Things were nip-and-tuck through the third quarter when senior Camden Sine gave the Titans some breathing room late in the quarter with an old-fashioned 3-point play that gave Hidden Valley a 6-point lead. Jaret Butenschoen’s tip-in at they buzzer sent the Titans to the final 8 minutes with a 41-36 advantage.
Hidden Valley scored the first six points of the fourth to lead 47-36 with 5:11 left, and Blacksburg would get no closer than six points the rest of the way. Forced to foul in the final two minutes, Blacksburg could only watch as the Titans made free throws to keep the Bruins at bay.
The win was Hidden Valley’s first of the season, evening their record at 1-1.
“It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win,” Wells noted. “The effort was there tonight and we reduced our turnovers to six in the second half. We’ll get better.”
“We had opportunities, but couldn’t knock down the shots tonight,” Blacksburg head coach Doug Day said. “The defense itself was not enough. We gave up some easy baskets in the fourth quarter.”
The loss was the Bruins’ first of the season after two wins, including one the night before at Floyd County.
“These kids are young, so the back-to-back games wasn’t a factor,” Day added. “They’d rather be playing a game than practicing.”
Sine and senior Graham Whitaker led the Hidden Valley scoring with 16 points each. Junior Jaret Lipps added 10, while Butenschoen netted 8 points for the Titans. Will Harrison topped the Titan rebounding effort with 13, with Butenschoen grabbing 11 boards.
Blacksburg was led by Jacob Nottingham’s game-high 21 points.
– Bill Turner
