No. 5 WRV takes out Linton-Stockton

White River Valley's Jared Shelton (right) harasses Linton-Stockton's Caleb Stuppy in a battle of guards during a conference boys basketball game at Switz City Saturday night. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

SWITZ CITY -- Class A No. 5 White River Valley dished out 12 assists as they connected on 53 percent of its shots as they raced to a 39-23 cushion at the half and went on to defeat visiting Linton-Stockton 66-54 in a Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference boys basketball game here Saturday night.

The Wolverines improved to 5-0 after winning their opening SWIAC contest.

"We came out and played well in the first half," said first-year WRV coach J.B. Neill. "We did some good things against their zone.

Linton-Stockton freshman Austin Karazsia (21) directs the Miner defense while WRV's Ethan Dyer tries to in-bound the basketball during a basketball game at Switz City Saturday. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

"We were able to move the ball and find the open man. We got the ball into the post and was able to play inside out."

Linton-Stockton, who starts one senior, two freshman, one sophomore and one junior, fell to 0-4, 0-2 in the conference. The Miners shot 54 percent for the game (20 of 37) compared to 44 percent for the Wolverines (24 of 54). But the visitors committed 22 turnovers to just seven for WRV.

"We knew that they were going to bring a lot of intensity defensively," said Linton-Stockton coach Darren Clayton. "We knew we were going to have to take care of the basketball.

"We made a good percentage of our shots, but they had a lot more looks at the baskets because of turnovers."

Miner senior Chase Rhoten scored five of his nine points in the first quarter. They went ahead 5-2 on his 3-pointer two minutes into the game. An offensive rebound basket by Blake Eaton gave Linton-Stockton a 7-6 lead at the 3:35 mark of the quarter.

It would turn out to be the last time the Miners were in front as White River Valley closed the quarter on a 12-4 spurt, taking a 18-11 lead after a steal and running banker by Jeffrey Hogue, who had a season-high 10 points off the Wolverine bench.

His three-point play started the WRV outburst. He scored seven points in the quarter, all during the decisive run.

"Hogue came in and opened things up for us in the post," said Neill. "Any time you can get a conference win, it is a good thing.

"After we got the lead up to double figures, we got a little sloppy, but that happens sometimes."

A 3-pointer by Miner junior Caleb Stuppy, who had a team-high 13 points, hit the first of his three treys, cutting the WRV advantage to 27-21 with 3 1/2 minutes to play in the first half. Gunner Passen also made three from beyond the arc to account for his season-best nine points.

"We have some guys that can step up and shoot the three," said Clayton. "We played well in stretches, but we have to find a way to be consistent for 32 minutes."

WRV used another quarter-ending outburst to take command. This time the spurt was 12-2, Ethan Dyer, who tossed in a season-best 12 points, hit a 3-pointer in the final five seconds to put the Wolverines ahead 39-23 at the half.

David McNeal led WRV with 14 points, Billy Dove had 11 and Jared Shelton, who was 4 of 16 from the field, added 10 points, giving the Wolverines five players in double figures.

"Fifty-four was enough points. We can't give up 66 points and expect to win games around here," Clayton said.

WRV won the junior-varsity game 39-22 as John Ashcraft (11) and Austin Roudebush (nine) combined for 20 points. Also for the Wolverines, Luke Mowery scored six points, Cade Hill five and Jordan O'Haver, Trey Graves, Sam Dyar and Connor Schantz each added two points. Alec Sipes and Nick Johnson also played.

For the Miners, Luke Jerrells tied Ashcraft for game-high honors with 11 points. Jackson Bohnert had six points, Adam Neff three and Cole Bradbury added two. Cole Riggleman, Cody Kocher, Brandon Flater, Ben Boyd and Jesse Houchin also played.

The Miners will host Shakamak at 6 p.m. Friday in the first of two consecutive games against the Lakers. The two teams will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26 at Terre Haute North during the opening round of the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic.

White River Valley will entertain Bloomfield at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

LINTON-STOCKTON (54) -- Dess Fougerousse 3-7 0-3 6, Blake Eaton 3-3 2-2 8, Austin Karazsia 1-2 2-2 4, Caleb Stuppy 5-9 0-2 13, Chase Rhoten 3-5 2-4 9, Gunnar Passen 3-7 0-1 9, Brandon Flater 0-0 0-0 0, Clayton French 2-4 0-0 4, Luke Jerrells 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 20-37 7-16 54.

WHITE RIVER VALLEY (66) -- Billy Dove 4-9 3-5 11, David McNeal 5-6 2-5 14, Cole Goodman 3-7 2-3 8, Jared Shelton 4-16 2-2 10, Ethan Dyer 5-6 0-0 12, Levi Hostetter 0-3 0-0 0, Jeffrey Hogue 3-5 4-5 10, Ty Resler 0-0 1-2 1, Cody Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Jared Sargent 0-1 0-0 0, Cade Hill 0-0 0-2 0, Trey Graves 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Roudebush 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 14-22 66.

Linton-Stockton 11 12 12 19 -- 54

White River Valley 18 21 13 14 -- 66

3-point shooting -- Linton-Stockton 7-17 (Stuppy 3-5, Passen 3-7, Rhoten 1-2, Fougerousse 0-1, French 0-2 ), WRV 4-11 (McNeal 2-2, Dyer 2-3, Hostetter 0-1, Shelton 0-5). Fouls -- Linton-Stockton 17, WRV 18. Fouled out -- Karazsia. Rebounds -- Linton-Stockton 23 (Fougerousse 9), WRV 25 (Goodman 7, McNeal 5). Assists -- Linton-Stockton 10 (Stuppy 3, Fougerousse 3), WRV 14 (Hostetter 5). Steals -- Linton-Stockton 1 (Stuppy), WRV 5 (Shelton 2, Hogue 2). Turnovers -- Linton-Stockton 22 (Rhoten 6), WRV 7 (Dove 2). Blocks -- Linton-Stockton 5 (Fougerousse 4), WRV 1 (Shelton).