Utica basketball beats Licking Valley, moves into first-place logjam

On Jan 5, 2023

UTICA — The physical play of the Utica boys basketball team and its offensive duo of senior Trenton Collins and junior Roman Gamble wore down visiting Licking Valley on Wednesday and proved to be too much in a 64-50 victory.

Valley (4-6, 3-2) was looking to get back to .500, but Utica (8-2, 3-1) instead was able to build on its success from last year and continue its hot start to the season to move into a three-way tie in the loss column for first place with Johnstown and Northridge in the Licking County League-Cardinal Division.

“We got a lot of experience back, we just have multiple guys step up and make plays and really galvanize the team and we just get better every single day,” Utica coach Radabaugh said.

Collins and Gamble took over in the first half, scoring all of their team’s 22 points. Collins was able to get into the paint at will and create just enough space for himself to make tough contested layups, and Gamble opened with a 3-pointer and paired it with a couple of nice drives to the hoop in the first 16 minutes.

The Panthers found their stride in the second quarter, getting to the charity stripe, scoring nine of their 15 points in the quarter by way of it. A couple of key defensive stops from sophomore Kam Walker and some buckets in transition led to a 6-0 run right before the buzzer for Valley, and the Panthers took that momentum into the half with a 25-22 lead.

However, it was all Utica in the third quarter as physical perimeter defense from seniors Brody McDaniel and Zack Heckman turned up the pressure on the Panthers and held the explosive Walker to just 11 points coming after a breakout performance against Philo, where he finished with 28.

“I think throughout the game their physicality got to us, we missed some layups and we had some open looks and missed some of those,” Valley coach Mikey Flowers said. “We could not come up with some 50-50 balls and probably needed to play a little tougher down the stretch if we wanted to give ourselves a chance.”

It seemed like Gamble could not miss in the third as he banged in two more shots from beyond the arc, and Collins was getting his pull-up jumpers to fall with ease. A pair of tough layups from Heckman put Utica up nine at the end of the third.

The Panthers tried to claw their way back into the game with a 3-point barrage from junior A.J. Rapol as he hit three 3-pointers in the fourth to pair with the two he made earlier in the night.

Despite Valley’s efforts, Gamble would answer with two of his own which effectively put the game out of reach, putting his total at 25 points for the night. Collins also hit one of his own which truly put the dagger in it as he finished with 27.

The senior leadership and toughness from Collins was apparent down the stretch. Despite barely coming out he was able to play with intensity, manage tempo well and keep the team playing relaxed in crunch time for Utica, which visits Lakewood on Saturday.

“Average teams are coach led and great teams are player led, and we’re getting to the point where we are player led and those guys do a great job of leading in the locker room and on the court,” Radabaugh said.

Rapol’s 15 points led Valley. Gunner Bowman added 13 ahead of Walker’s 11.

Although Valley had a clear size advantage, the Panthers had some struggles on the glass and in the paint, allowing some key offensive rebounds. They will be challenged again with a trip Saturday to Granville, which now has the outright lead in the LCL-Buckeye Division.