Spartans Advance To Next Round; Face Dunbar
Vandalia, OH (February 28, 2004)— Valley View proceeds to the tournament after beating Little Miami 72-54 in first round action this past Saturday night. The Spartans were on fire as their defense could not be stopped.
"We played well. It was a total team effort. Teddy (Buehner) was a great floor leader and Cole (Sizemore) distributed the ball well. Everyone stepped up", coach Brian Gunter said.
"Little Miami has a great team and they're in the Fort Ancient Valley League. They came in 10-10, getting some late wins and beating Carroll," Gunter added.
After the first quarter, the Spartans were up 16-9.
"Across the board we played exceptionally well. Brandon Deaton hit one three-seconds before the end of the first quarter and that put us up by seven," noted Gunter.
In the second quarter, the Spartans remained strong and kept the lead by seven points.
"We played great defense and about two and a half minutes before the half we scored to keep us up by seven," added Gunter.
In the first half, senior Brandon Hassell got into foul trouble, but the rest of the team picked up the pace when Hassell had to sit out.
"It was at the end of the first quarter, or the beginning of the second quarter when Brandon got two fouls on him and then by the half he had three fouls," Gunter said.
Going into the half the Spartans remained ahead by seven (26-19), and after that it was all down hill for Valley View, as Buehner came on strong during the third quarter. Buehner scored 12 of his 20 points during the third frame.
"One of the key points in the game was the third quarter. We came out and defended them twice and we scored three times. We focused on getting the ball out and Teddy hit some big three's," commented Gunter.
Little Miami tried to close the deficit during the fourth quarter, but the Spartans were not only on fire defensively they were hitting shots left and right.
"We went on a 24-7 run at one point and just put them away," Gunter added. "Hassell fouled out with five minutes to go in the game, but the whole team remained focused and finished off the game," Gunter said.
The game ended 72-54, as Buehner closed the night out with 20 points, Sizemore and Trey Weidle both recorded 10 points, while Mark Ratliff put nine points on the board.
It was a total team effort for the Spartans and that's what Gunter hopes to see this Friday against Dunbar.
"The boys played their hearts out. They just played together and it was great. It was one of our better games and even the fans commented on that. Every player got the job done and now we're heading into the sectional final at 15-6," said Gunter.
The Spartans will move on in the tournament and travel back to Vandalia Butler on Friday to play Dayton Dunbar in the finals at 8 p.m.
"Dunbar is a good team and had some big wins towards the end of their season. They beat Hamilton Badin in the tournament and we got to see a little of that game because it was justbefore we played. It should be an exceptional semi-final game," Gunter stated.
Gunter knows what the team needs to do to win.
"We've got to get the same game going and not be intimidated and we'll be in there the whole game. It's a do or die situation and we've go to take each game one at a time. If we win we'll be the first team since 1995 to make it to districts. It will be a tough game and Vandalia's gym can be intimidating, but we're two for one there, so it's been a good gym for us," Gunter added.
