MINFORD – Oak Hill went into Minford Friday night and pulled out a huge upset win over the defending SOC champion Minford Falcons. The Carrol brothers were on fire throughout the night, hitting seven three-point buckets between them and combining for 30 points. The Oaks had four scorers in double figures, as Dennis Fleming and Mitchell Hale also joined the team effort.
Minford started the game on a 10-0 run. They had great ball movement and were very disciplined defensively, switching with ease and closing out on shooters.
The Oaks showed an offense that was constantly moving and screening for shooters with Fleming posting up on the inside. Oak Hill started hitting their shots in the second quarter and never slowed, closing the gap to five points for a score of 29-24 at the break.
The Oaks came out in the third hot. The Carrol brothers hit three treys to open the third, taking the lead 33-29. They would go on a 13-2 run and close out the quarter with a 39-35 lead. The Oaks slowed their offense down in the fourth, working the ball inside to Fleming and eventually forcing Minford to foul them in order to slow the game down. Oak Hill would hit their free throws though, and close out the game with a score of 63-55.
For Minford, Trey Kelley led all scorers with 21 points on the night. Brandon Rowe had 18, but looked gassed as he ran many isolation plays in an attempt to bring his team back. Head Coach Josh Shoemaker blamed himself for the loss.
“I thought they hit some huge shots in the second half,” said Shoemaker. “We really struggled to get any kind of offensive flow, we struggled to score to put it simply. I thought we did play really hard tonight. We rebounded extremely well. It just wasn’t our night, tonight. I’ll take this one on me. I couldn’t ask anything more of the kids tonight. I thought they gave great effort. Oak Hill just absolutely played a great ball game tonight.”
Minford is now in a must win position. They must travel to Lucasville next Friday and beat the Valley Indians in order to get a share of the SOC title.
“We knew it was always going to come down to this game. For the last four years we’ve been able to play for the conference championship against Valley. I’m proud of our kids and I want to end the season on a high note.”
Minford will host the Huntington Huntsmen Tuesday in a non-conference game before they close out the regular season against Valley. As it stands, Minford, Wheelersburg, and Valley all have a shot at the SOC title.
Box Score 1 2 3 4 F
Minford 17 12 6 20 55
Oak Hill 10 14 15 24 63
Individual Stats
Minford: Kelley 21, Rowe 18, Dalton 7, Alley 4, Gullett 3, McCormick 2
Oak Hill: N. Carrol 16, L. Carrol 14, Fleming 14, Hale 11, Swann 8
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