Sidney, OH — Two MVL heavyweights went down to the wire as West Carrollton traveled north to battle #3 Sidney in a game that could either give Sidney a 9-0 start and complete control of the MVL Valley or a game that could completely shake up that division and give West Carrollton a chance at a league title. Sidney came out firing right out of the tip as Aigbokhai Kadari won the tip-off uncontested but it was recovered by Sidney’s Trey Werntz who got an easy layup on the other end. West Carrollton junior Stanley Shrivers got his night started off right as he made a three to give the Pirates the early lead and then on West Carrollton’s next possession he got a friendly bounce to give the Pirates a 6-2 lead. Then, West Carrollton led by Shrivers and junior Jye’Ton Howard went on a run that would put them up 19-9. Avante Martin got a putback to make it a 23-16 and West Carrollton star Kalen McKinney’s only action of the first quarter was taking a charge committed by Sidney forward Jaden Swiger. The score at the end of the 1st quarter was 23-16 West Carrollton led. Avante Martin got the scoring started in the second as he got a steal and slam to put Sidney within 5 but then Howard hit a three for the Pirates and McKinney got a layup to extend the lead to 9. Jye’Ton Howard then hit a filthy crossover which sent Devin Taborn flying back and Howard drilled the three. Darren Taborn got a layup on the other end to make it just a 10 point game. Howard then broke Devin Taborn’s ankles with another crossover which sent the West Carrollton side into a frenzy. Sidney slowly crept back into the game as Darren Taborn hit a jumper and Devin Taborn hit a deep three to make it a 33-33 tied game. Lathan Jones gave the Yellow Jackets the lead with a layup and Austin Jones countered that with a layup of his own. Avante Martin gave Sidney a lead and it was back and forth heading into the fourth. Taborn started to take over in the late third quarter as he made a layup and his missed jumper was tipped in accidentally by a West Carrollton player to give Sidney a 45-41 lead. Avante Martin and Jaden Swiger both made layups to extend the lead to 49-41. Then double technicals were assessed to Stanley Shrivers and Camden Vordemark as both players got tangled up but it was warranted of a technical foul. Then at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Jaden Swiger got called for an offensive foul which was one of the worst calls I’ve seen all season and Swiger started to talk to the other players on West Carrollton and the Pirates’ Kalen McKinney who had a season-low 4 points started to get near Swiger and the officials gave McKinney a techincal fouling him out of the game. Darren Taborn took over after that hitting shot after shot and pushing the lead out to 62-42. Sidney ended up winning by a final score of 64-48 as the Yellow Jackets improved to 9-0 and take complete control of the MVL Valley. They held West Carrollton star and the MVL leader in points per game to just 4 points and Kalen McKinney struggled offensively. Stanely Shrivers tried to step up in his place and Shrivers had 18 points which was a career-high for him. Jye’Ton Howard had 13 points for West Carrollton as well. Darren Taborn had 17 points and Avante Martin finished with 12 for the Yellow Jackets. Sidney returns to action with a giant MVL game versus the Miami division leader Tippecanoe on Tuesday night at Tipp.