By Steve Fields
LINTON — For the second game in a row, West Vigo’s Vikings fell behind early, rallied in the second half, only to come up short, this time falling to the host Linton Miners 68-63 on Friday.
Linton (3-17) built a 12-point lead in the first half and held off West Vigo when Tim Scott, Caleb Stuppy and Chase Rhoten combined to hit 4-of-6 free throws in the final 26 seconds.
“We do that all the time. We always get back into the game. We just can’t get over the hump,” West Vigo coach Joe Boehler said.
Tyler Wampler led West Vigo with 22 points and seven rebounds, followed by Jordan Houser with 13 pints and Cody Thornton with 10 points.
Linton had four players in double figures, paced by Scott with 16 points, Rhoten and Dess Fougerousse with 15 each and Austin Karazsia with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“Despite the [3-17] record, [this season] has been fun in a lot of ways. The kids want to improve, want to get better and they want to beat people,” Linton coach Darren Clayton said.
With the score tied 4-4, the 6-foot-3 Fougerousse, a freshman, put back an offensive rebound that put Linton ahead for good less than two minutes into the game. The Miners led 20-14 at the first stop.
Linton outrebounded West Vigo 36-24 for the game.
“We got killed on the boards. [Linton] got a lot of second shot opportunities,” Boehler said.
West Vigo was 2 for 8 from 3-point range in the opening quarter.
“We were settling for three pointes too easily,” Boehler said.
The Miners stretched their lead to 43-31 at halftime with Karazsia netting seven points in the second quarter.
“We didn’t do a very good job defending in the first half,” Boehler said.
West Vigo outscored Linton 21-12 in the third period with Jordan Houser netting two three. West Vigo’s Scott West stole the ball and scored at the buzzer to cut Linton’s lead to 55-52 going into the fourth quarter. Linton’s Fougerousse hit the first of two free throws in the opening minute of the quarter. But when he missed the second free throw, teammate Scott put back the rebound to give the Miners a 58-52 lead.
West Vigo’s West and Houser got the Vikings back to within two, 58-56, but could never get the big play or shot to tie the score.
With 39.2 seconds on the clock, West Vigo’s West stole the ball, scored and hit a free throw to draw the Vikings within one, 62-61. Linton’s Rhoten followed with a two-pointer and then the Miners hit free throws in the closing seconds.
With 7.1 seconds on the clock, Rhoten hit two free throws to clinch the Linton victory.
“I couldn’t be prouder of [Rhoten]. He stepped up and hits two free throws that put the game away,” Clayton said.
West Vigo 63
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
McCalister 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 2
West 4-19 0-9 1-1 4 4 4 9
Thornton 3-6 0-1 4-4 6 2 1 10
Houser 5-9 3-7 0-0 2 1 5 13
Wampler 9-21 2-8 2-3 7 1 3 22
Crowther 3-3 0-0 1-3 2 2 1 7
Flesher 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Kent 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0
Totals 25-61 5-25 8-11 24* 10 17 63
Linton 68
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Fougerousse 7-10 0-1 1-2 9 0 2 15
Scott 7-14 1-7 1-3 6 0 4 16
Karazsia 4-5 1-1 3-4 11 0 0 12
Rhoten 4-7 1-3 6-6 5 0 2 15
Stuppy 2-5 0-0 1-2 1 1 3 5
Eaton 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 2
French 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3
Passen 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Franklin 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 26-44 4-13 12-17 36* 1 12 68
West Vigo 14 17 21 11 — 63
Linton 20 23 12 13 — 68
FG Pct. — WV .409, L .590. 3-pt. Pct. — WV .200, L .307. FT Pct. WV .727, L .705. (*) Includes team rebounds — WV 0, LHS 2. Turnovers — WV 10, LHS 20.
JV — Linton won 37-35.
Next — West Vigo (11-11) plays Brown County on Tuesday in the Class 3A Sectional at Owen Valley High School. Linton (3-17) plays North Knox in the Class 2A Sectional at North Knox High School.
