By Todd Lancaster, Sports Editor
MONTGOMERY — If a Barr-Reeve basketball team is known for anything, it is the ability to use fundamentals to win basketball games.
And when the outside shots weren’t falling on Friday against Pike Central, they turned to defense to lead them to a 25-point win.
The Vikes (1-1) kept the Chargers in single digits in each quarter and only trailed briefly in the opening minutes, throughout the 56-31 win.
“I liked our effort on the defensive end,” said B-R coach Bryan Hughes. “I thought we got off our feet and went after some rebounds. We didn’t get as many transition buckets as I would like, but I thought once we settled down we started to get some things.”
The Vikings came out cold for the second straight game as Pike Central built a 5-0 lead, as B-R missed its first four shots and did not pick up an offensive board. However, 3-pointers from Kendall Murphy and an old fashioned 3-point play from Brandon Graber ended the first quarter knotted at nine.
The Vikings then started to pull away in the third as Willie Helms came of the bench with the quarter’s first five points. He would end up with 11 points in the quarter, Dustin Ash added four and Hogan Helms had two.
“William was a big spark for us off the bench tonight. That is really where we got our separation from,” said Bryan Hughes.
“In the second he hit three ‘3s.’ Hopefully that will be one of the headlines of the year for this team. It will be when guys can come off the bench and give us some good minutes.”
Trey Hughes also seem to get on track with four, while Murphy kicked in a pair of free throws to end the half with a 30-16 Viking lead.
The Vikings kept the Chargers at bay, outscoring them 12-7 in the third quarter. Luke Harmon and Hughes both hit treys, giving B-R seven for the night. Christian Duncheon and Harmon added buckets, while Hogan Helms scored off an assist from his brother, Willie.
Hughes stayed hot in the final quarter with eight points to end with 18 points. The Vikes also went eight of nine from the line in the fourth quarter to finish off the 56-31 victory.
The Chargers’ Cody Frederick proved to be a thorn in the Vikings side the entire night. He led Pike with 16 points including four 3-pointers. Cody Caldmeyer also had six and Kyle Jones had four.
“I thought the Frederick kid did really nice job the whole game. He did a nice job on Trey and his defense was tough. That is something Trey is going to have to get used to, because he is going to get people’s interest. I though Trey adjusted well. He had some nice drives and kick outs, especially to Willie in the first half. That’s what we want — share the ball and find open people.”
For the Vikes, after Hughes’ 18, Willie Helms ended with 12 and Murphy had seven. Harmon and Graber added five each while Hogan Helms and Ash had four each. Duncheon ended with two points and four boards. Ash also had four boards.
The Vikes gave JV coach Aaron Ash his second win with a 51-42 victory. Jordan Sinnott led with 17 points, while Josh Swartzentruber had 12.
The Vikes take on the always-strong Orleans Bulldogs on the road tonight.
“Orleans has been a place that has not been real kind to us over the years,” added Bryan Hughes. “We remember last year when they came in here and spanked us pretty good. Hopefully we will be focused when we get on the bus.”
