AKRON - While it was raining an ice and snow mixture outside Tuesday evening, inside the gymnasium at Tippecanoe Valley High school, senior Bo Davidson was raining three-pointers for the Plymouth Pilgrims.
Davidson connected on 6 of 8 three-point attempts, finishing with a game-high 25 points, as Plymouth beat the host Vikings 66-53 in boys basketball action."He shot extremely well tonight," second-year Plymouth coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said of Davidson, who hit three treys in the first quarter. "He hit a few late in the Rochester game, and that just carried over to tonight. He got in a rhythm and helped us get out to an early lead."
Davidson's hot hand in the opening quarter helped the Piglrims grab a 15-7 lead before Valley scored the final four points of the quarter.
"The first four minutes was the key to the game," said Valley coach Bill Patrick. "They jumped out to that early lead. We just didn't do a good job guarding them."
Plymouth led 15-11 after one quarter of play, 32-19 at halftime and 45-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Vikings, who trailed by as much as 18 in the third quarter but got back in the game with a 12-0 run, cut Plymouth's advantage to four early in the fourth quarter.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Davidson stopped Valley's momentum, however, and the Pilgrims stretched their lead again down the stretch.
"We got it down to four, and then we gave up some easy baskets," said Patrick.
With the win, Plymouth improved to 3-1, while Valley fell to 2-2.
"Credit Valley," said Stuckmeyer. "They battled back. We were on our heels."
Both teams struggled last season, as the Pilgrims went 9-14 in Stuckmeyer's first year as a head coach, and the Vikings were 4-17 in the first losing season of Patrick's now-41 season career.
Both teams appear to be much improved this season.
To go with Davidson's 25 points, Plymouth got 17 points from senior Todd Vervyckt and eight points from senior Leneil Himes, who will attend Indiana University on a football scholarship.
"We had really good balance," said Stuckmeyer. "It wasn't just Bo, we had other people step up."
Senior Anthony Tolson led Valley with 16 points, while classmates Zach Owens and Taylor Burkhart chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior Bret Cooper scored six points, while junior Gus Lukens added four points.
The Vikings are in action again Saturday when they host Glenn, while Plymouth hosts Peru Friday.
