Published: January 09, 2009 01:19 pm      

Vikings battle Bath, fall 51-49

The Rowan County Vikings lost on the road Tuesday night to Bath County, 51-49. The boys in green are now 4-7 on the season.

The two teams battled back and forth for the lead throughout the first half of the game. Bath County held a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but Rowan battled back to tie 27-27 at the half. In the third quarter the Vikings were down by one and lost in the final minutes of the game.

“We did a lot of positive things,” Viking Head Coach Shawn Thacker said. “We are showing steady improvement. I believe this was one of the better games we have played overall.”

Leavitt Morrison, who is the Vikings top scorer, was injured in last Friday’s game against Elliott County. Despite a badly sprained ankle, Morrison took the court with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

“We thought he would be out for a few games, but he did a good job with rehab,” Thacker said. “He showed a lot of character and guts when he stepped up and assumed a lot of the leadership.”

With swelling and bruising that climb up his calf, Thacker said it would be understandable if Morrison had wanted to sit out, and is hoping he will continue to play.

Nick Duff and Jacob Ginter both put up eight points for the Vikings while Cody Hunter and Jon Sergent had four each.

As a whole, the Vikings are coming together and showing a lot of improvement.

"We made a couple of little mistakes down the stretch against Bath,” Thacker said. “I knew when we got into those tough spots that the inexperience of being in those situations would rear its ugly head, and it did.”

In the final minutes of the game, Nick Duff knocked down three shots form Bath, but Rowan then turned it over and lost the lead.

The Vikings played host to Morgan County on Thursday night (after press time.)

On Saturday, Rowan will host a 6-4 Madison Southern.

“I am familiar with them from scrimmages at Somerset,” Thacker said. “But to be honest the most important thing for us right now is our development as a team. We are we still concentrating on learning what we want to do.”

Tip off for Saturday’s game is slated for 6 p.m. The freshman team will play at 3 p.m. and Junior Varsity plays at 4:15 p.m.