HARROD – Upper Scioto Valley head coach Jeff Kloepfer will take the 69-57 win over Allen East on Wednesday night but it will probably never make his career greatest hits collection.
“I’m sure it was as hard to watch for you as it was for me,” Kloepfer said. “There was just no flow to the game. It was so ugly to watch. Like I told the boys this is a win and you have to be pleased with that.”
The Rams improve to 3-2 overall and Allen East suffers its first defeat of the year and falls to 4-1.
“We are missing one player and we are just really out of rhythm right now and it showed,” said Mustang head coach Brady Clum. “We couldn’t get a rhythm going and we just couldn’t get a flow on offense. You’ve got to give them (USV) credit. Size-wise, we had a tough time matching up with them. Our biggest guy on the court is 6-1 and they have three guys, 6-4, 6-4 and 6-5.”
USV’s defense and the inside scoring of post player Trevor Dotson helped the Rams grabbed a 34-25 lead at halftime.
In the second quarter, the Rams held the Mustangs to just 10 points and one field goal. The remaining eight points would come from the free throw line. Dotson, who finished with a team-high 25 points, collected 16 of those in the first half.
“When you are struggling on offense, which again we weren’t struggling so much inside as outside that is when you really have to play defense well,” Kloepfer said.
Despite the anemic shooting from the floor, the Mustangs were still within striking distance and closed to within five, 39-35, when Spencer Miller pumped hit back-to-back baskets at the 5:28 mark in the third quarter. The Mustang 10-5 run to open the third quarter was also highlighted by five points from Caleb Smelser.
But the Rams quickly clamped down on those two and found a little shooting touch Chase Rose and Dylan Thompson of their own to close out the third period with a 8-4 run to give the Rams a 47-38 lead.
The Mustangs shooting woes continued early in the fourth quarter and with 4:58 left in the game, the Rams owned a 57-42 lead and Kloepfer decided to eat clock and spread the floor. From that point the game pretty much turned into a free throw shooting contest for the Rams who held on to post the victory.
“We tried to double down on the big guys and try to keep the ball out of the paint and make guys hit shots, and they had a couple of guys hit some shots for them and then the foul situation and a lot of free throws tonight,” Clum said. “But I was proud of our guys. They fought until the end.”
In the fourth quarter, the Rams were 11 of 13 from the free throw line. For the game the Rams were 23 of 33 from the charity stripe. Allen East was 19 of 27 from the free throw line.
“This is somewhat of a rivalry game with both teams being close to each other,” Kloepfer said. “They want to beat us as bad as we wanted to beat them so I figured it would be a physical game and the refs called it pretty close.”
In addition to Dotson’s 25, the Rams got 18 points from Rose who also pulled down six rebounds.
Miller led the Mustang scoring parade with a game-high 26 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Smelcer finished with 18 points and Shane Gibson chipped in 10 points.
For the game, it appears the Rams looked solid from the field, hitting 22 of 44 shots. However, that was aided by Dotson, who was 11 of 15 from the field and Rose who knocked down 6 of 10 from the floor. From behind the 3-point line, the Rams were a dismal 2 of 12.
“We were able to score inside and I knew we could but we kind of struggled from the perimeter,” Kloepfer said.
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