Vikings stumble after strong first half

Community's Cody Pierce (11) fades away and knocks in two over Richland's Trent Coble (2). Pierce led Community with 20 points. (T-G Photo by Jasen Richardson) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

LYNNVILLE -- Community had a tough road to climb Friday night when they headed to Richland for a Hall of Fame basketball game. The hard-fought battle was anybody's game at halftime, but the Vikings were unable to hold on in the last two stanzas and fell 82-62.

"We came and played with freshmen, sophomores and a couple of seniors in a road game against one of the top teams in their district," Community coach Jace Bryant said. "To be down only two (points) at halftime, I was pretty happy. The one thing we stressed at halftime was to not just be satisfied with being in the game, but let's win the game."

The Vikings (0-2) came out tough and matched the Raiders' intensity in the first two stanzas. The game was back and forth, as if the teams were saying to each other, "Look what we can do." Community's Kyle Dyer nailed a bucket from behind the arc at the first quarter buzzer as the Vikes closed in on a 17-15 deficit.

Tyler Christian scored eight of his 14 points in the second stanza, including a 3-pointer, to help propel the Purple and Gold into the half behind 38-36. The Unionville crew stayed neck-and-neck with the Raiders (2-0) and maintained a game-time strategy that enabled them to manipulate Richland's game plan a little bit and find some room to contain the match.

It was a tale of two halves and the Purple and Gold found themselves in trouble as the Raiders outscored the Vikes 44-26 after halftime.

Community got into some serious foul trouble, which broke some of their routine and put the Lynnville crew in a position to snag some easy points. Both teams combined for 68 shots at the line. Community was 16-of-20 at the charity stripe and Richland sunk 28-of-43.

"It was an unusually called game," Bryant said. "It's our responsibility to adjust. We, as players and coaches, have to adjust. If (the referees) are calling a lot, we've got to stop fouling. It hurt us with (Cody Pierce) going to the bench. I thought some of the younger guys played okay to weather the storm."

Pierce led the Vikings with 20 points, including a 3-pointer, and was 7-of-8 at the charity stripe. He singed the mesh with 12 points in the final stanza. Tyler Christian added double digits and notched 14 on the boards.

Tanner Newton paced Richland with 20 points as four other Raiders -- Trent Coble 14, Chris Jones 14, Cody Jordan 10, and Blake Ramsey 10 -- scored in double digits

Defensively, the Vikings pressed a lot more than usual, especially in the second half.

"We tried to pick the times to press in the first half," Bryant said. "In the second half we did some good things, even with their starters in, we pressed. That's what we're going to do more of this year. Last year we hardly ever pressed. This year we are going to be more of a pressing team, because we want the pace of the game to be faster. I was thrilled with our guys' effort."

Community hits the road again Monday night at Santa Fe.