Midland dumps Valley by 47-23 score

The 20s simply weren’t good for Valley Friday against Midland Trail.

The Greyhounds shot 20 percent (10-of-50), committed 21 turnovers, and scored an anemic 23 points in a lifeless 47-23 loss to the Patriots at John Flournoy Gymnasium.

“We were just flat,” said Valley coach Joby Groom. “We had no enthusiasm or any spirit coming out of the dressing room.

“We didn’t have our minds on playing.”

Groom said he felt his team still hadn’t recovered from an overtime loss to Mount Hope Wednesday, a game in which the Greyhounds battled back after trailing by 16. “The Mount Hope game took a lot out of us, but Midland Trail’s got a good team. They were disciplined.”

On the heels of a brutal, six-game string of post-Christmas tournament outings, Midland Trail coach Greg Crist is mainly looking for his squad to find some rhythm and get on more of a regular schedule. Although they didn’t register a masterpiece, the Patriots made some strides toward that goal against the Greyhounds.

Moving fairly well offensively, Midland used a 9-0 spurt beginning midway through the opening period to claim a 14-4 lead after the first eight minutes. A later 11-0 run — in the third frame — moved the Pats’ advantage to 38-18. During the latter surge, Joey Fox went backdoor and got nice back-to-back feeds from teammate Nathan Syner for two goals to get things started. Dustin Nickell then converted a steal into a deuce on the other end, and the Nickell followed that with a three-pointer from the left wing to make it 36-18. Freshman Casey Deskins finished off the spurt with a two-pointer at the 1:46 mark, and Valley never recovered.

“Our kids moved well,” said Crist. “The (2-3) zone moved well and reacted, and we were patient and active on offense.

“It was a pretty good effort. We’re starting to get a little better chemistry. We’re doing better establishing rhythm, although we’re still struggling shooting the ball.”

On the night, Midland was 19-of-49, including a 3-of-17 effort from beyond the three-point arc.

“It’s just a confidence thing right now,” said Crist. “We’ll get it straightened out.”

“We stood around like statues,” Groom said of his team’s defensive offerings.

Nickell (six rebounds) and Fox both scored 14 for the Patriots. Deskins finished with eight points, five boards and five steals.

Valley, which led only at 2-1, didn’t have a player score above four points.

Valley (2-3) hosted Teays Valley last night. The ‘Hounds play at Richwood Thursday.

Also last week:



Mount Hope 65, Valley 59



Da’Von Marion’s 31 points paced the Mustangs to the overtime verdict Wednesday.

Kyle James chipped in 20 points for Mount Hope (7-2), which had defeated Valley 68-54 earlier in the season.

Cameron Cochran led VHS (2-2) with 23 points, while De’Andre Fruit added 19.

— E-mail:skeenan@register-herald.com



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Midland Trail 47, Valley 23



Valley (2-3)

Andre Wright 2 0-0 4, Jack Simms 1 0-0 2, Marcus Burger 1 0-0 2, Cameron Cochran 2 0-0 4, Anthony Underwood 2 0-1 4, Cody Atha 0 0-0 0, Scott Housman 0 2-4 2, LaRonda Wilson 1 0-0 2, Adam Warden 1 1-1 3, Dillon Ganoe 0 0-0 0, Travis Brogan 0 0-0 0, Corey Tolley 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 3-6 23.

Midland Trail (5-4)

Dustin Nickell 5 3-4 14, Nathan Syner 1 1-2 4, Joey Fox 6 2-2 14, Noah Sparks 1 1-2 3, Caleb Carte 0 0-0 0, Mark Nickell 0 0-0 0, Will Deskins 0 0-0 0, Jared George 2 0-0 4, Sidney Crist 0 0-0 0, Casey Deskins 4 0-0 8, Kelly Minter 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 7-10 47.

V 4 8 9 2 — 23

MT 14 7 17 9 — 47

Three-point goals: V: none; MT: 2 (D. Nickell, Syner); Fouled out: none.