Vandals use late push to beat Litchfield at home

For the second straight game, Vandalia was able to contain its opponent's center, but the Vandals still needed a furious fourth-quarter comeback last Friday to defeat Litchfield, 58-50.

Junior Leyton Godoyo was the primary defender of Litchfield’s Dale Volentine, who had just 12 points during the game. Godoyo was also responsible for guarding Hillsboro’s Matt DeLuka three days before.

Combined, Volentine and DeLuka had 37 fewer points then they did in the first meetings of the season.

“Even though (Godoyo is) 5-foot-10, he plays bigger than that,” said Vandalia coach Kevin Jackson. “He’s strong enough to handle guys like that, and he jumps well enough to challenge shots.”

Litchfield, however, led for nearly all of the first three quarters, moving ahead by as many as seven points with 2:14 left in the third quarter.

But junior Tim Ritchey hit a 3-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 38, and the Vandals (17-5, 6-2 South Central Conference) scored six more points after that to end a 13-0 run that put them ahead, 44-38.

After Litchfield had closed the gap to 47-45, the Vandals were sent to the foul line on many of their possessions, with Ritchey making 9-of-12 free throws and senior Bryan Hosick adding a pair in the final 3:45 of the game to preserve the victory, which saw Vandalia score 23 points in the final period.

“We found a way to pull it out,” Jackson said. “Litchfield did a good job of solving our pressure, and executed what they wanted to do for three quarters. Fortunately, we got some buckets and steals when we needed them.”

Vandalia had 19 steals in the game, and in the second half, the team scored 13 points off of steals, including a fast-break layup from senior Dathan Berning that gave the Vandals their first lead of the second half and another shot by Berning off of a Ritchey steal just 25 seconds later.

In the first half, Vandalia took an early 3-2 lead on a 3-pointer from Godoyo, but the Purple Panthers controlled the game for the rest of the half, with Vandalia briefly holding just three other leads, at 7-6, 23-22 and 25-24.

Hosick was the reason the game was close, as he scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first half.

Included were shots that tied the score at 13, 18 and 22, and two other shots that came with the Vandals down by four.

“It’s a good thing Bryan shot the ball well in the first half,” Jackson said. “He stepped up, and that was big for us.”

Notes: Vandalia scored 14 second-chance points off of 12 offensive rebounds, while Litchfield scored just six off of six offensive rebounds … Vandalia scored 20 points off of 20 Litchfield turnovers, while Litchfield got just four points off of 10 Vandalia miscues … Berning scored his 300th point of the season on a free throw late in the second half.

Friday, Jan. 27
Vandalia 58
Litchfield 50
LHS: 16-10-12-12—50
VHS: 13-12-10-23—58
Points: Hosick, 19; Berning, 16; Ritchey, 14; Godoyo, 5; Quenten Austin, 2; Chase Woolsey, 2.
Rebounds: Godoyo, 7; Hosick, 4; Woolsey, 4; Austin, 3; Ritchey, 3; Berning, 2; Team, 2.
Steals: Austin, 5; Berning, 5; Ritchey, 4; Hosick, 3; Godoyo, 2.
Blocks: Hosick, 2; Godoyo, 1; Woolsey, 1.
Record: 17-5 (6-2 SCC)
Litchfield: Hull had 13 points.