It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but the Shawnee Indians ultimately got the result they hoped for on Saturday. They snuck past Upper Scioto Valley with a 57-52 victory. Given Shawnee's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 135th, while Upper Scioto Valley is ranked 630th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Leading Shawnee to victory were Beckett Bertke and Dominic Lynch. Bertke dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Lynch scored 20 points along with six rebounds and five assists. The matchup was Bertke's sixth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Tate Bender, who scored eight points along with three steals.
The victory (which was Shawnee's third in a row) raised their record to 4-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.7 points per game. As for Upper Scioto Valley, they have fallen quite a ways from their 16-7 record last season and are now at 2-4.
Shawnee and Perry will face off at 7:30 p.m. on December 19th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Perry is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last three games. Upper Scioto Valley and Vanlue will face off at 7:30 p.m. on December 22nd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Vanlue is hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
