Big games from Peters, Webb lead Eastern past Vikings

WILLOW WOOD — It's been a season of peaks and valleys for the Symmes Valley Vikings this season.

After a string of high-scoring wins, the shots just wouldn't call on Tuesday night as the Eastern Eagles knocked off the Vikings 61-49 in a Southern Ohio Confernce battle for first place.

"I guess I'm still trying to get used to this up and down play we have," said Carpenter." We kinda go from where we're scoring 70 points or we're struggling to get over 40 points."

"But we had our chances. We cut it down to four and then we took some ill advised shots and didn't really work the ball around to get our offense set. Then they go down and quickly hit a couple big shots and that took the wind out of us."

Carson Peters and Boston Webb led all scorers with 16 points for Eastern. Peters also had a game-high 14 rebounds, while Webb had 3 steals and a pair of assists. Eric Manley finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Eagles.

The Eagles used a 10-0 run to grab a firm hold on the lead through the 2 and a half minutes of the second quarter. Webb and Werner highlighted the run with back-to-back triples.

Key Roberts made a little spin in the lane and floated a jumper in to halt the run.

To finish off the half, Peters scored underneath in the final minute to give the Eagles a 32-22 lead.

"The player that really hurt us all night was Peters. We rebounded well all night for them. Then we'd box guys out and he come in grab the ball and lay it in," said Carpenter.

During the third, the Vikings' offense came to life and made a short scoring run to get back to within four.

Simpkins scored all 9 of his points during the third, including a 3-pointer on a kick out pass from Asher Manyard. Then Jackson Fields poked the ball away and Simpkins came up with the steal and drove in for two to cut the deficit down to 36-32 with 4:35 remaining in the frame.

However, that would be as close as the Vikings would come.

Webb would hit a 3-pointer from the far corner and then Eric Manley rifled in a shot from downtown to extend the Eagles lead back out to 10 and steal any momentum the Vikings' had built up.

"Well, we missed some shots starting off and then they hit a couple," said Carpenter. "Our youth still shows at times. If something goes wrong, we get too down on ourselves."

Carpenter finished the game with 13 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Roberts and Simpkins each scored 9 points apiece for the Vikings.

Eastern Pike 14   18   14   15  =  61

Sym. Valley 10   12   16   11  =  49

EASTERN PIKE (9-6, 4-1): Carson Peters 5 1 3-4 16, Hayden Reinsmith 0 0 0-0 0, Aiden Werner 1 1 0-0 5, Boston Webb 2 3 3-3 16, Eli Shaffer 0 0 0-0 0, Eric Manley 4 1 0-0 11, Cade Leist 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 17 7 6-8 61. Rebounds: (O-12, D-23) 35 (Peters 14, Manley 7, Webb 5). Assists: 5 (Webb 2, Leist 2). Steals: 7 (Webb 3, Leist 2). Blocks: 4 (Manley 3, Peters). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (7-7, 3-2): Key Roberts 2 1 2-2 9, Andy Strow 0 0 0-2 0, Mason Campbell 0 0 1-2 1, Gradee Holland 1 0 0-0 2, Logan Simpkins 2 1 2-2 9, Bronx Carpenter 3 1 4-4 13, Asher Maynard 3 0 0-0 6, Tanner Corn 1 0 0-0 2, Zayne Wilson 1 1 0-0 5, Jackson Fields 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 14 4 9-12 49. Rebounds: (O-11, D-16) 27 (Simpkins 6, Corn 5, Carpenter 4). Assists: 1 (Carpenter). Steals: 5 (Campbell 2). Blocks: 3 (Maynard 2, Carpenter). Fouls 12. Fouled out: None.