The idea that the Green Bobcats could be the Symmes Valley Vikings wasn’t a long shot. But a long shot did help.

Matt Clarke grabbed a long rebound and turned it into the winning basket as the Bobcats slipped past the Vikings 68-66 Friday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

Symmes Valley missed a shot with five seconds left, but the ball bounced long off the rim past the top of the circle and Clarke grabbed the ball and raced for the winning layup just before time expired.

It was Green’s only lead of the game.

Symmes Valley coach Alvin Carpenter said missed shots — the Vikings were 25-of-84 from the field — and crucial mistakes gave Green too many chances down the stretch.

“We took some bad shots and we didn’t make very good decisions. Our inexperience really showed tonight,” said Carpenter. “But give Green credit. They played really hard.”

Besides the 29 percent shooting performance from the field, the Vikings were 10-of-12 from the foul line over three quarters but just 1-of-6 in the fourth quarter.

Kris Tibbs scored nine points in the first quarter as the Vikings took a 19-8 lead.

Luke Taylor got seven points in the second quarter but Green managed to cut the deficit to 31-24.

Matt Ratcliff scored nine points in the third quarter to offset 10 points by Tibbs as Green got within 50-44.

The Vikings led by four points with two minutes to go, but two straight missed shots allowed Green to tie the game and set up the winning score, the Bobcats’ only lead of the game.

Clarke and Tibbs matched each other with nine points in the fourth quarter.

Tibbs finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, four steals and four blocked shots to lead the Vikings (5-7, 4-4). Josh Craft and Luke Taylor had 11 points each with Taylor grabbing eight rebounds.

Ratcliff scored 24 points as the Bobcats won their second game. Clarke had 11 points and Trenton Otworth scored 10.

Green 8 16 20 24 = 68

Symmes Valley 19 12 19 16 = 66

GREEN (NA): Matt Clarke 4 1 0-0 11, Trenton Otworth 3 1 1-1 10, Tyler Hughes 0 1 0-0 3, Pat Pierce 3 1 0-1 9, Matt Ratcliff 10 0 4-6 24, Nathan Pinkerton 1 0 1-3 3, Dustin Stapleton 4 0 0-1 8, Chad Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Cody Bruce 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 4 6-12 68. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (5-7, 4-4): Josh Craft 0 3 2-3 11, Justin Payne 0 0 0-1 0, Kris Tibbs 13 1 6-8 35, Jesse Graybeal 1 0 0-0 2, Luke Taylor 3 1 2-4 11, Robbie Powell 2 0 1-2 5, Brandon Bowling 1 0 0-0 2, Justin Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Stanley 0 0 0-0 0, Hunter Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-84 11-18 66. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 5-20. Rebounds. 36 (Tibbs 14, Taylor 8). Assists: 11 (Johnson 5, Tibbs 3). Steals: 9 (Tibbs 4, Taylor 4). Turnovers: 11. Blocked shots: 6 (Tibbs 4).