JACKETS ARRIVE IN DUBLIN ON A ROLL

While it will be nice for the Irish to get back home on January 2 after four consecutive road games, they will face a Mount Vernon team that is on a roll.

The veteran Yellow Jackets extended their winning streak to four games with a convincing 58-28 win over the River View Black Bears on Tuesday. They are 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the OCC Capital Division. Their lone loss - 54-50 to Olentangy Orange - came at home in the second game of the season.

Irish fans are familiar with Mount Vernon as the teams have squared off every season since Scioto opened. Last year, Scioto traveled to "The Hive" and came home with a 60-48 win. The Irish built a small lead in the third quarter and made it stand up by nailing most of their free throws in the fourth quarter. The teams met again in the district semi-final at the Fairgrounds Coliseum and the Irish escaped with a 55-52 overtime win.

Senior guards Cuy Sheffield and Ben Severns lead a veteran Yellow Jackets team. Sheffield is an extremely quick guard who can attack the basket to score and will dish to shooters for open trey attempts. He is scoring 15.3 points per game and had 5 assists against River View.

Severns is a sharpshooter and his range covers pretty much anywhere over the half court line. He is averaging 8.3 points per game this season, but appears to be heating up from long range as he has nailed five treys in the last two games.

They are joined by junior post player Joe Scott who was the leading scorer and rebounder against River View with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He is averaging 9.3 points per game.

The junior varsity game is scheduled to tip at 6 p.m. and the varsity game should begin at around 7:30 p.m. As noted in previous updates, it will be Alumni Night and Irish basketball alums will be honored at halftime of the varsity game.

Greg Dawkins went coast to coast for a lay-up to break the 9-0 run and after McDougald split a pair of free throws, Tyler hit a long trey at the buzzer for the final margin.

Although the Irish had a low shooting percentage in both halves, they were able to establish the lead by taking good care of the ball and rebounding well until late in the third quarter. Once they started turning it over, the smaller and quick 76ers scored several transition buckets that allowed the momentum to switch.

The win over Independence marked the second consecutive game in which the Irish had to rally late to secure a win.

McDougald was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Irish with 14 points and 9 boards. McKinley chipped in 12 points and hit all three made Irish treys. Mills had 7 points and 7 rebounds, while Deji Olatoye had 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Other Irish players in the scoring column were St. John with 5 points, Rainer Duzan with 4 and Stamets with 2.

Duzan, Mills and St. John had 2 assists each.

Scioto is home for the first time in three weeks on Friday, January 2 with a game against the Mt. Vernon Yellow Jackets. During halftime of the varsity game the Irish will honor basketball alumni.

UNOFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Scioto: McDougald, 5-4-14; McKinley, 4-1-12; Mills 1-5-7; Olatoye, 3-0-6; St. John, 1-3-5; Duzan, 2-0-4; Stamets, 1-0-2.
Team: 17-13-50

Three Point Goals: McKinley, 3

Independence: Tyler, 15; Dawkins, 11; Simms, 6; Henry, 5; Wells, 4; Brown, 2; Collins, 2.
Team: 19-5-45