Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WILLOW WOOD — When opportunity knocked, the Symmes Valley Vikings didn’t open the door.

The Vikings didn’t convert their chances in a 61-49 Southern Ohio Conference loss to the Portsmouth Clay Panthers on Friday.

“We didn’t play bad, we just had shooting problems at times. We had opportunities to stay with them early and didn’t convert,” said Vikings’ coach Donnie Saunders.

The Vikings (1-2, 0-2) were paced by Shawn Belville with 16 points and Jarod Sheppard with 15.

Clay (2-0, 1-0) was led by Brody Riffe with 19 points and Cole Gilliland with 17 — 15 in the first half.

The Panthers took an 18-12 first quarter lead despite 8 points by Belville.

A big second quarter enable Clay to open up a 41-20 halftime cushion as Gilliland score 8 points while Nate Hinze and Riffe had 5 each.

“They are a nice team. They’re hard to beat. They do a lot of things well. They kept stretching the lead out on us. We got down too far at halftime and when we came back we had to take too many chances in the fourth quarter,” said Saunders.

Symmes valley mounted a furious comeback in the third quarter by outscoring Clay 18-2 and cut the spread to 43-38.

But Riffe scored 9 points in the fourth quarter including 3-of-5 from the foul line.

Symmes Valley hosts Oak Hill on Tuesday in a non-league game.

Ports. Clay 18 23 2 18 = 61

Sym. Valley 12 8 18 11 = 49

PORTSMOUTH CLAY (2-0, 1-0): Jordan Collier 0 0 0-0 0, Brody Riffe 6 1 4-7 19, Cole Gilliland 4 2 1-2 17, Cameron King 3 1 0-0 9, Anthony Williams 3 0 1-4 7, Jared Meade 0 0 0-0 0, Nate Hinze 3 1 0-0 9. Totals: 19 5 6-14 61. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (1-2, 0-2): Levi Cade 0 0 0-0 0, Chayden Renfroe 0 0 0-0 0, Collin Webb 3 0 3-4 9, Shawn Belville 8 0 0-0 16, Payton Hayes 1 1 0-0 5, Derrek Smith 0 0 1-2 1, Jase Patterson 0 0 2-2 2, Eric Baldwin 0 0 1-2 1, Forrest Humphrey 0 0 0-2 0, Jarod Sheppard 6 0 3-5 15. Totals: 18 1 10-17 49. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Smith.