After dropping a heartbreaker to 5A power TL Hanna, the Spartanburg Vikings were back in action Thursday night at Viking Arena to take on the Woodmont Wildcats. After holding a lead for much of the night as high as 10 points, Woodmont came from behind to steal the lead in the fourth quarter and win by a final score of 74-67. Here are my five biggest takeaways from the game.
1- Start with the positives. Spartanburg, despite playing without its intended full roster, has junior guards Johnston Abrams and Kyler Jaggers that had no problem getting to their spot on the floor and hitting tough jump shots. I was impressed by their shooting and athleticism. Abrams had a game-high 21 points and Jaggers had 11 points.
2- Senior guard Logan Norton, the only senior on the roster, operated a well-run offense with crisp passing and good decision making offensively, as well as good scoring night. Norton did his best to keep the Vikings in the game with 15 points and 9 of them coming in the fourth quarter, and a few pretty assists.
3- Now what went wrong, and there was plenty for Spartanburg that they have to fix. There were certainly calls that went against the Vikings throughout the game, but the referees had nothing to do with Spartanburg getting dominated on the glass. Woodmont got way too many second and third chances in the halfcourt, and most of those extra possessions either turned into buckets or free throws.
4- Between the Vikings rebounding issues, they needed just a couple more stops in the post that they couldn’t get. Spartanburg may not be at full strength roster-wise with a couple players still in football season, but I’m not sure how much those players will help. This roster must do better rebounding or they’ll never have enough possessions to keep up with a loaded Region 2 in 5A, and with only three forwards on the team the guards have to help on the glass.
5- Woodmont showed a ton of resilience fighting back to grab the win, getting big offensive rebounds and hitting timely shots. Zavien Broughton scored a team-high 18 points and Jordan Smith Berry poured in 15, but none were more important than Keshun McCoy. McCoy came off the Wildcats bench to score 16 points, with 13 of them in the 4th quarter and two huge three-point plays. Woodmont will head into region play with clear favorites being TL Hanna and Greenville, but will look to finish at the top of the next group of teams in Region 1.
