CALEDONIA —River Valley beat Galion 85-54 Thursday in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Red Division battle.
The Tigers won the opening tip-off but their first offensive venture was short lived as the River Valley defensive pressure caused a quick turnover.That was a sign of things to come.
Turnovers were a common occurrence on both sides of the floor with Galion committing 36 turnovers and River Valley 26. The Vikings marched to a 21-14 lead after one quarter.
Keeping the pressure on, River Valley dominated the second period take a 45-19 lead into the dressing rooms at the half.
The Tigers couldn’t get untracked on offense. Turnovers and poor shot choices doomed the Galion squad throughout the contest. After three quarters, the Tigers were behind 65-34.
The fourth quarter saw 11 Galion turnovers but it was the only quarter that the Tigers outscored the Vikings and they did so by a slim margin, 20-19.
With the loss, Galion falls to 3-14 overall and 1-8 in the MOAC Red. River Valley improves to 3-14 overall and 3-5.
The big story of the Vikings was Hayden Wallace of River Valley, who scored almost at will, finishing with 45 points. He season average is 19.3. His output was a new River Valley single-game scoring mark. Tom Poorman chipped in 12 points for the Vikings.
Jack McElligott shot the ball well from inside and finished the game with 17 points to lead Galion. Chase Cooke added 16 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Isaiah Alsip scored seven points, Gage Lackey chipped in six, Colten Skaggs had five points and 10 rebounds, Tristan Baldy added two and Zhamir Anderson rounds out the Tigers’ scoring with one point from the free-throw line.
On Saturday Feb. 4, Galion is at JonathanAlder and is at Plymouth on Feb. 7.
