Aldridge, Richardson lead Vikings to rout

January 15, 2014 at 12:07a.m.

By Brandon Judeh

Leavittsburg

It was another game and another dominant performance for Peyton Aldridge on Tuesday as his LaBrae Vikings slayed the Niles Red Dragons, 68–37.

The Davidson recruit had his way with the Niles defense, scoring 17 points and grabbing 22 rebounds on his way to yet another double-double.

For good measure, Aldridge added three blocks, seven assists and three steals.

When asked about his intangibles the senior credited one thing.

“It all starts with hustle,” Aldridge said. “It gets me and my teammates excited and pumped up. We just try to get out and run.”

Aldridge and the Vikings (9-2, 3-1 All-American Conference, National Division) made an early statement, jumping out to a 14-3 lead and never looking back.

“Marcell [Richardson] stepped up for us early he hit two 3-pointers back-to-back and that really set the tempo and got us going,” Aldridge said.

LaBrae outrebounded the Red Dragons 22-9 in the first half, which led to a nine-point halftime lead.

Overall the Vikings won the rebounding war by an impressive margin of 45-16.

“We did a fantastic job on the boards,” LaBrae head coach Chad Kiser said. “Aldridge did a great job grabbing 22 of them. He just has a knack for the ball, and his basketball IQ is amazing. Of course his height and jumping ability help, but really it’s his IQ that makes him the great player that he is.”

Niles head coach Ron Price says he was happy with his team’s performance in the second quarter, but the Red Dragons failed to carry that momentum over into the second half.

“At times we aren’t a very good rebounding team, and tonight magnified that,” Price said. “Also not carrying over the momentum of the second quarter really hurt us in the third. We are disappointed in some things that we did tonight, but give LaBrae all the credit. They do a lot of things well and they’re a great team.”

The Vikings were most impressive in the third quarter. Their defensive rotation proved to be key as they held the Red Dragons (5-5, 1-3 AAC American) to just two points in the quarter and held them scoreless the first 5:15.

Richardson had a big night for the Vikings, leading all scorers with 20 points and grabbing eight boards.

Junior guard Justin Jenkins chipped in with 12 points and Collin Phillips added seven.

Leading the way for the Red Dragons was Muhammed Salaam with nine points on three 3-pointers. Kyle Paden and Cameron Kane each added eight points.