WILLOW WOOD - Dear God, I pray for patience and I want it right now.

The Symmes Valley Vikings prayers have been answered the second half of the season. The Vikings won for the sixth time in their last seven games with a stunning 64-52 upset of the Portsmouth Clay Panthers Friday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

"We lost a lot of games early when we had the lead and blew a shot. We're being more patient now," Vikings coach Alvin Carpenter said.

Patience wasn't the only thing the Vikings displayed. They also used a strong defense to limit the Clay offense.

"They've been averaging 60 or 70 points a game lately, so that was a good defensive effort," Carpenter said.

Kyle Gilmore turned in another big game as he had 19 points, five rebounds, four steals, and six assists to lead the Vikings (10-8, 9-4). Jarred Shafer also had 19 points while Chris Elswick had 14 points and four assists.

Nate Warnick scored 11 points, with Cam Thoroughman and Chris Bihl adding 10 each for Clay now 13-5 and 10-3 in the SOC.

Elswick scored eight points in the first quarter as Symmes Valley jumped out to an 18-8 lead.

Gilmore erupted for 10 points in the second quarter to help offset a pair of 3-pointers by Warnick as the Vikings increased their lead to 34-22 at the break.

Clay chipped away at the lead in the third quarter by getting within 47-38 despite nine points by Shafer.

Bihl had six points in the fourth quarter, but Clay was forced to foul and the Vikings converted 10 of 15 free throws. Shafer was 4 of 6 at the line while Gilmore and Justin Holland each went 3 of 4.

Ports. Clay8141614-52

Sym. Valley18161317-64

PORTSMOUTH CLAY (13-5, 10-3):

Eric Thacker 1 0 0-0 2, Cam Thoroughman 2 2 0-0 10, Chris Robinson 1 2 0-0 8, Matt Brown 0 1 0-0 3, Josh Redden 1 0 3-4 5, Nate Warnick 1 3 0-0 11, Chris Bihl 3 0 4-4 10, Mike Thacker 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 9

9

7-8

52. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (10-8, 9-4):

Chris Elswick 3 2 2-4 14, Kyle Gilmore 0 4 7-8 19, Craig Neal 1 0 0-0 2, Jarred Shafer 1 3 8-10 19, Michael White 1 0 1-3 3, Justin Holland 0 0 3-4 3, Matt Owens 0 0 2-4 2, John Wiseman 1 0 0-0 2, Chase Higgins 0 0 0-0 0, Seth Colegrove 0 0 0-0 0, Cory Burcham 0 0 0-0 0, Ian Runyon 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-38

(9-20)

23-33

64. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 24 (White 5, Holland 5, Gilmore 5). Steals: 12 (Gilmore 4). Assists: 13 (Gilmore 6, Elswick 4). Turnovers: 9.