Story by Bob Moore
After starting their inaugural year in the CCC with 4 conference wins, the Miami East Vikings had high hopes of starting their sophomore season with a big win over their Miami County neighbors from Bethel. The young Bees of Bethel were in their own sophomore situation with 3 of them starters and no seniors to be found on the floor or the bench. After starting 2 – 0 in the CCC the Bees were looking for a big road win to continue to build on their momentum and confidence.

The Bees had their own version of the “James Gang” in the first quarter. 6’3” So., Michael James contributed 3 treys in a row to lead the Bees on a 16 to 6 run. The Bees jumped to a 19 – 10 lead and forced Viking Coach Allen Mack to call a timeout at the 2:13 mark. The Vikings were able to narrow the gap to 21 -15 on a Trevor Coomes bucket and a 3 pointer by Logan Carey.

The Bees started the 2nd quarter with a 7 – 4 run that extended their lead back to 9, 28 – 19. The run was lead by James’s 4th trey of the game and four points from Ryan Masin. Unfortunately for the Bees and Mr. James that would be his last bucket of the night.

The Vikes chipped away at the lead and would take a one point advantage with under a minute to play in the half. Viking Sr., Josh Deal scored 8 of his career high 16 points during the comeback. The Bees Matt Kley scored a bucket in the lane at the buzzer that gave the Bees a one point advantage at the break, 35 – 34.

The 3rd quarter remained close until the Vikings capitalized on the Bee’s youth and inexperience. The Vikings scored several points off Bethel turnovers and crashed the offensive boards. After a Dan Hickman steal and bucket extended the Viking’s lead to 7, Bethel coach Chris Endres called a timeout. What the Bees lack in experience they make up in talent and determination; the Bees scored the remaining 5 points of the quarter to cut the margin to 2.

The 4th quarter started in a flurry for the Vikings with a nice pull up jumper by Richie Miller off the block. Josh Deal added 2, Hickman added another nice jumper off the baseline and Carey added a nice bucket in transition to finish an 8 point run that gave the Vikings a 10 point lead.

After another Bethel timeout the Bees cut the lead back to 6 points. The following possession the Vikings again had multiple chances off the offensive glass and 6’2” So., Tyler Dunivan was able to get one to fall for the Vikings. After another Bethel turnover the Vikings ran their motion offense to perfection, killing some time off the clock and converted with basket on the block by Tyler Beard for another 10 point advantage with 3 minute to play.

“Not Dead Yet” was the attitude of the Bees after another Endres timeout. Another Sophomore, Jon Sutton led the charge back with 3 at the 2 minute mark. The Bees defense made big plays to harass the Vikings into coughing the ball up and missing easy opportunities in the lane. Sutton slashed his way into the lane and drew fouls that enabled him to drain 4 free throws in a row to narrow the gap to 3 with 29.8 second to play.

The Bees were unable to convert in the next two attempts from the floor in the next 15 seconds. The Bees had the opportunity to narrow the gap to two if they converted on the front end of a 1 and 1 with 9.5 second left but the first shot wouldn’t fall.

Viking senior Richie Miller was fouled when he pulled downed the rebound off the missed free throw and he hit the front end of a 1 and 1 with 7.5 seconds left to play. After he converted the second attempt the Viking had the cushion needed to finish the game. Sutton hit his second 3 pointer of the quarter with 3 seconds left to narrow the gap to the final score of 59 – 57. With no timeouts left for the Bees, the Vikings let the ball bounce for 3 seconds out of bounds to kill the clock for a victory.

“Our kids battled. I am so proud of our kid’s effort tonight” were the first words out Coach Endres mouth in his post game comments. “They didn’t fold and they didn’t give up until the buzzer went off.”

“I think we can contend in this league” noted Endres “This team reminds me of my first team at Bethel when we won a share of the conference championship. It took an early season loss to teach us what it takes to win in this league and I think Miami East taught us that lesson tonight.”

“It is like putting together a puzzle and we’ll use this game as a lesson to continue to get better” Endres continued. “I walked into the freshman practice the other day and realized that most of the guys that I’m coaching are only a year older.” “Free throws and rebounding have to improve. Our defense is solid and I’m very pleased on how we played, especially holding Hickman to 11 points when he averaged 21 points in his first two games.”

“We’re happy with the win” noted Vikings Coach Allen Mack. “But it was a struggle and that is a credit to Bethel. They came in here with a lot of confidence coming off a two big wins over 20 points. They played very well early and fortunately, we were able to weather the storm, fought back and we were able to make the second half of the game like starting over again.”

“We talked about the importance of the first 3 minutes coming out in the second half. I thought that was key for us. We had a nice little run there in the 3rd quarter that put the game in a 6, 8, 10 point game, but unfortunately we didn’t finish it out they way I would have liked us to, but again that was a credit to Bethel.”

Coach Mack commented on the defensive rebound and the two free throws that Richie Miller made in the closing seconds of the game. “Those were two of his biggest free throws of his life. Richie is a smart kid, an aggressive kid and certainly one of our better free throw shooters and I was glad to see him step up and hit those and give us a two possession game.”

Mack also acknowledged the balance scoring with Josh Hickman netting 16 and Logan Carey collecting 15 points. “That was the first time we had more than Dan (Hickman) in double figures. Josh Deal probably had his best game ever at Miami East and I’m proud how he stepped up for us. Logan Carey had a big game for us also. We had a lot of guys contribute tonight. It was a great team effort.”

Scoring by quarters
Bethel………21…35…43…57
Miami East…15…34…45…59

Bethel
Yates – 12
Sutton – 14
Walters – 4
Masin – 10
James – 12
Kley – 2
Samuel – 2
McIntosh – 1
FG% 36.5 (19 – 52) FT % 54.4 (12-22)

Miami East
Hickman – 11
Miller – 6
Coomes – 4
Carey – 15
Vega – 3
Beard – 2
Deal – 16
Dunivan – 2
FG% 32.3 (21 – 65) FT% 68.4 (13 – 22)

3 Point Goals
Bethel – 7 (James 4, Sutton 2, Yates)
Miami East – 2 (Vega, Carey)

JV Score: Miami East 34 – Bethel 28