By Leeann Tanner - Staff Writer
MOREHEAD
MARCH 5 — The Vikings closed out their season Thursday night with a first round Regional tournament loss to Fairview, 58-49.
Fairview jumped out to an early 14-9 lead in the first quarter, but Rowan cut the lead to three at the half.
“It was a low scoring affair,” Coach Shawn Thacker said. “They shot the ball well, especially (Caleb) Collins.”
Collins, a senior for the Eagles, missed his first two shots of the night, but went on to nail 7-of-7 in the second half. Collins went on a 9-0 run on his own in the third that made all the difference for Fairview’s final score. The Eagles were up by seven at the end of the third quarter. Rowan matched Fairview almost shot for shot in the fourth, but was unable to find the extra momentum to pull out a win.
“We didn’t do as good as job on the backboards as we did when we played them here,” Thacker said.
The Vikings beat the Eagles, 48-39, in their season closer at home, so Fairview was looking to put Rowan’s guys down as quickly as possible.
Adam Wing led the Vikings in scoring with 18 points and Jacob Ginter put up 10. Danny Weigel had nine and Darrell Cross sank four. Dalton Stacy nailed one from the perimeter while Cody Hunter and Jon Stacy put up two each. Corey Hunter had one from the charity stripe.
Overall the Vikings nailed 42-percent from the field and went 7-for-11 at the line.
“It was a game where a two to three minute stretch was enough to change the color of the game,” Thacker said. “We didn’t do a good job keeping Collins in front of us. They have a good team and so many different weapons.”
Fairview threw the Vikings for a loop with their defense. In their match up earlier this season, the Eagles played mainly a zone defense. Fairview played mostly man-to-man on Thursday.
“This is a post-season tournament, so they are going to let you play,” Thacker said. “The Championship game will probably be low scoring too. The first team to 40 will probably win it.”
The Vikings have already put the loss behind them, and are eagerly looking at next season.
“I am really tickled with what our seniors were able to accomplish,” Thacker said. “They walk out knowing that for the last two years they have helped rebuild this program. All the hard work and they have two District Titles. They know we are back where we need to be because of them.”
Thacker has put a lot of emphasis on his junior varsity and freshmen teams this season to prepare for the 2010-2011 season.
“Hopefully we have moved past the rebuilding stage,” Thacker said. “Our Middle School Coaches are doing a great job down there and our freshman and j.v. coaches are working hard too. We are all working together to develop our talent pool, which is really benefiting our program. Everyone has worked really hard this season and we have come a long way in understanding where we are and our philosophy. We have worked and developed a bloodline. We will miss our seniors, but we should have some kids waiting in the wings, ready to step into those voids to be able to finish what they started.”
