LATHAM — Good things come to those who wait.

The Symmes Valley Vikings learned to wait even to the extreme of an overtime quarter, but it paid off as they beat the previously unbeaten Western Indians 76-73 Friday in a Southern Ohio Conference I game.

Vikings coach Alvin Carpenter said his team’s patience proved to be the deciding factor.

“We settled down and we were pretty patient with the ball most of the game,” said Carpenter. “They were quite a bit bigger than us so we had to be patient and we were except for the third quarter.”

The Vikings had taken a 31-28 halftime lead as Tyler Smith scored 7 points and Kris Tibbs 6.

Symmes Valley had 16 turnovers for the game, but only six in the first half.

But Zack Kier scored 9 points in the third quarter as Western got the game’s tempo kicked up a few notches and outscored the Vikings 28-27 to trail 58-56.

The Indians managed to tie the game at 68-6, but Tibbs scored 7 of the Vikings 8 points in overtime to get the win.

“They went up on us in the fourth quarter, but we had a gut check and our seniors stepped up,” said Carpenter. “Tibbs got a couple of putbacks in overtime and then we were patient with the ball.”

Smith finished with 18 points, six assists, and four steals. Matt Tibbs scored 19 points and Kris Tibbs 17. Each of the brothers had eight rebounds.

Chris Capper added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Vikings (2-2, 1-1).

Chris Penwell and Vint Shanks scored 19 each for Western (3-1, 1-1).

Symmes Valley151627108=76

Western Pike141428125=73

SYMMES VALLEY (2-2, 1-1): Tyler Smith 7 1 1-2 18, Jacob Johnson 1 2 0-0 8, Kris Tibbs 5 2 1-3 17, Chris Capper 3 0 4-6 10, Matt Tibbs 5 3 0-2 19, Hunter Boggs 2 0 0-0 4, Jesse Graybeal 0 0 0-0 0, Robbie Powell 0 0 0-0 0, Gary Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Dustin Wilson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-53 8-16 6-13 76. 3-point goals: 8-16. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 31 (K. Tibbs 8, M. Tibbs 8,Capper 8). Assists: 10 (Smith 6). Steals: 11 (K. Tibbs 4, Smith 4). Turnovers: 16. Blocked shots: 4 (M. Tibbs 2, K. Tibbs 2).

WESTERN PIKE (3-1, 1-1): Chris Penwell 4 3 2-3 19, Blake Downing 2 0 0-0 4, Zach Kier 6 0 2-7 14, Vint Shanks 7 0 5-9 19, Bob Smitheson 6 1 2-6 17. Totals: 25

4

11-25 73. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.