West Union freshman point guard Tegan Knox pushes the ball up court in second half action from the Dragons’ win at St. Patrick on Tuesday night. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
To the tune of an 82-38 rout
Sophomore Gavin Jarvis flies high to the rim on his way to a 27-point effort in the Dragons’ 82-38 win at St. Patrick on February 7. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
The last basket of the West Union win at St. Patrick came on this shot by Jed Shivener in the final seconds as the Dragons routed St. Patrick 82-38. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It took a trip across the Simon Kenton Bridge to cure some of the ills that have faced Coach Jeff Stricklett and his West Union Dragons boys varsity basketball squad. After winning just one of their first 20 outings in the 22-23 campaign, the Dragons looked to a Tuesday night match up with the St. Patrick Saints to attempt to add a second win to their ledger.
The trip across the mighty Ohio turned out to be a good remedy for Coach Stricklett and his troops as they totally dominated an undermanned Saints squad, put up their highest point total of the season, and rolled to an easy 82-38 victory.
“It’s been awhile since West Union put 82 up,” said Coach Stricklett after the win. “It was a good win for us, we’ve certainly been on the other end of games like these. I’m proud of the kids, everyone contributed and scored. We didn’t get complacent after halftime, they came out and kept playing. Really proud of their effort.”
The contest was actually close for the first couple of minutes with the Saints getting three baskets from Armen Myrick to take a 6-4 lead, but an ensuing three-pointer by West Union’s Colby Harover began a run that gave the visitors the lead for good. Harover’s trey was followed by a Gavin Jarvis hoop, then three straight scores from freshman point guard Tegan Knox to put the Dragons up 15-6 and they never looked back.
Jarvis, who ended the night with a game-high 27 points, nailed a three-ball with 2:40 left in the first period before the Saints got two free throws from Abi Ignacio and a basket from Gabe Sammons to cut the West Union lead to 19-12, and the opening stanza closed with the Dragons up 23-14.
West Union began to distance themselves as the second quarter progressed, opening with an 8-0 run courtesy of a Jarvis “and one”, a Billy Flaugher three-ball and a Flaugher layup that made it 31-14. After a St. Pat score, the Dragons and their up-tempo offense reeled off a 9-2 run, seven of those points coming from the red-hot Jarvis and West Union taking a 40-18 advantage.
A three-point goal by the Saints’ Myrick temporarily plugged the dam but was followed by the Dragons scoring 10 in a row to blow things wide open, capped by baskets from Branson Grooms and Isaac Harding to extend the lead to 50-21. West Union’s Trae Grooms scored the final basket of the first half, one that ended with the visitors on top 54-23.
The second half began with 6-2 West Union run, before the Saints answered with a three-pointer from Rudy Ignacio. A basket by Knox put the lead at 35 and instituted the running clock rule as Coach Stricklett began to substitute freely. The Dragons scored the final six points of the third period, baskets by Jarvis and Harover and a three-point bucket from Nate Fooce to lead 69-30.
With the time on the clock rolling by rapidly, the Dragons got two baskets in the final frame from Brylee Mills, a Brennan Pollitt free throw,,and another score from Fooce. The final points of the night came in the final seconds on a put back score from Jed Shivener as the Dragons finished off their second win of the season, by the final count of 82-38.
The win was a coach’s dream as every player on the West Union roster scored int eh game, led by the 27-point effort from Gavin Jarvis. Three other Dragons reached double figures- Tegan Knox, Trae Grooms and Billy Flaugher all garnering 10 apiece. Colby Harover added 7 for the winners, who improved to 2-19.
St. Patrick was paced by 21 points from Armen Myrick with Abi Ignacio adding 8 and Gabe Sammons 6.
The Dragons have one regular season game remaining and that will be another challenge as they will travel to Seaman to face the 17-4 North Adams Green Devils in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference finale for both teams.
West Union
23 31 15 13 —82
St. Patrick
14 9 7 8 —38
W. Union (82): Harover 2 2-2 7, Harding 2 0-2 4, B. Grooms 1 0-0 2, Knox 5 0-0 10, T. Grooms 4 2-2 10, Pollitt 0 1-2 1, Jarvis 11 2-4 27, Flaugher 4 1-2 10, Fooce 2 0-0 5, Shivener 1 0-0 2, Mills 2 0-0 4, Team 35 8-14 82.
St. Patrick (38): Sammons 3 0-0 6, Myrick 10 0-2 21, A. Ignacio 2 4-5 8, R. Ignacio 1 0-0 3, Team 16 4-7 38.
Three-Point Goals:
W. Union (6)- Harover 1, Jarvis 3, Flaugher 1, Fooce 1
St. Patrick (2)- Myrick 1, R. Ignacio 1
