Hot shooting Pirates sink Xenia

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XENIA — The good news is that Xenia scored the most points against West Carrollton than any other team this season.

The bad new is that West Carrollton scored more points than it has scored all season, too, in an 88-68 road win, Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Xenia High.

The visiting Pirates also hit a season high in three-pointers made with 10. Surpassing their previous best of seven.

Zahir Martinez, who’s listed as Zahir Hopkins on the Miami Valley League’s online roster, led the Pirates with 20 points, with two threes. MVL scoring leader Kalen McKinney, a senior forward, finished with 18 points (three 3-pointers), Sam Walker didn’t hit any threes, but scored a dozen second-half points, and Austin Jones was the other Pirate in double-figure scoring with 10 points.

West Carrollton owned a 10-point 42-32 lead at the half, then began the second half with a 15-2 run to take control of the contest for good, 57-34, with 4:21 still left to play in the third.

Despite the huge deficit, the Buccaneers continued to play hard.

Junior guard Dylan Hoosier led Xenia’s scorers with 26 points. He was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line, and hit all eight tries he had in the fourth quarter. Fellow junior Zack Gaither also finished in double figures with 15 points, all in the second half.

Xenia (3-10, 2-8 MVL Valley) scored its most points all season in the loss. The Buccaneers’ previous team scoring high came in its most recent game, a 63-57 win over Fairborn on Jan. 10. Xenia hits the road for its next game, a 7:30 p.m. contest at Tipp City Tippecanoe on Friday, Jan. 17.

The freshman game and the junior varsity games went into overtime, and the varsity game ended at around 9:40 p.m., and so neither of the varsity coaches were available for comment before presstime.

West Carrollton (8-3, 8-2 MVL Valley) has now won three straight games and five of its last six. The Pirates trail Sidney by one game in the MVL Valley division standings, and Tuesday’s game was the teams’ first past the halfway point of the regular season.

West Carrollton hosts Troy for its next game, a 7:30 p.m. start on Friday, Jan. 17.

Xenia’s Shawn Thigpen looks for an open teammate as West Carrollton defenders Aigbokhai Kadari (13) and Austin Jones (11) try to prevent the pass, in the first half of Tuesday’s boys high school basketball game in Xenia.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/01/web1_X1throwWC1311_PS.jpgXenia’s Shawn Thigpen looks for an open teammate as West Carrollton defenders Aigbokhai Kadari (13) and Austin Jones (11) try to prevent the pass, in the first half of Tuesday’s boys high school basketball game in Xenia. John Bombatch | Greene County News

Junior guard Dylan Hoosier (4) puts up a shot over West Carrollton’s Zahir Martinez in first-half action at Xenia High School.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/01/web1_HoosierJumper_PS.jpgJunior guard Dylan Hoosier (4) puts up a shot over West Carrollton’s Zahir Martinez in first-half action at Xenia High School. John Bombatch | Greene County News

Kevin Johnson, of Xenia, shoots from the left wing Jan. 14 against visiting West Carrollton.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/01/web1_X25jump_PS.jpgKevin Johnson, of Xenia, shoots from the left wing Jan. 14 against visiting West Carrollton. John Bombatch | Greene County News

Surrounded by Pirates, Xenia’s Dylan Hoosier puts up an off-balanced shot in the first half of Tuesday’s game at Xenia High.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/01/web1_X4Hoosier_PS.jpgSurrounded by Pirates, Xenia’s Dylan Hoosier puts up an off-balanced shot in the first half of Tuesday’s game at Xenia High. John Bombatch | Greene County News
West Carrollton bombs 10 3-pointers in road win

By John Bombatch

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Contact John Bombatch at 937-372-4444, Ext. 2123.

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