Paint Valley's Swingle collects 1,000th career rebound in win over Piketon

PIKETON - If there was ever a doubt as to who leads the SVC's Player of the Year race, Dylan Swingle put a resounding end to any such dialogue Monday evening.

In a 65-52 road win over Piketon, Paint Valley's 6-foot-11 senior continued to carve his name into the conference's history books. The Duquesne University commit posted a double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds alongside five blocked shots.

With that performance, Swingle moved into No. 9 on the SVC's all-time scoring list with 1,507 career points and became just the fifth player in Ross County history to amass 1,000 career rebounds — he hit that mark with 5:52 left in the second quarter.

"I honestly had no clue I was about to get my 1,000th rebound before today," Swingle said. "Coach (Dave) Shoemaker told me before the game. But it feels great to be up there with some of the greats. It's elite company."

Elite company

Swingle, now with 1,008 career rebounds, joins Zane Trace's Jeff Reisinger (1,261), Southeastern's Chris Skaggs (1,123), Clarksburg's Gerald Rinehart (1,051) and Chillicothe's Garin Veris (1,028) as the only players to reach the milestone.

By the time the year ends, he could very well be the only player in area history to finish a career within the top three spots on both the all-time rebounding and scoring lists.

"Piketon's crowd handled Dylan's 1,000th rebound really well," Shoemaker said. "Their coaches and players all came to congratulate him and their crowd was cheering just as loud as ours. But when you're up there with the names that Dylan's up there with, it's elite company. It's a heck of a lot harder to get 1,000 rebounds than it is to get 1,000 points these days. Yeah, he's tall. But it's more than that. It takes practice and work ethic. I couldn't be more proud of him."

Heading in the right direction

After a setback loss to Zane Trace this past Friday, the Bearcats (7-6, 4-4 SVC) have now won two straight. Don't think for a moment they didn't know what Monday's win meant.

"The kids are excited," Shoemaker said. "I've been telling them for the last eight games that were headed in the right direction. Zane Trace was a setback. But I told them to stick with it and that their instincts and defense would get better. They're thrilled to death with this win."

Dropping the Hamlin

Earlier this season, the Redstreaks (8-4, 5-3 SVC) handed the Bearcats a 67-42 thumping in Bainbridge. So why did Monday night tell a different story?

One major reason was Paint Valley junior Hunter Hamlin.

With the responsibility of guarding Piketon's leading scorer Tanner Perdue, Hamlin took the challenge head on. In fact, in the third quarter, Perdue didn't take a single shot.

"Hunter is really coming on," Shoemaker said. "Defensively, he's always been solid. We mixed up our defenses but we had Hunter on (Perdue) 90 percent of the time. Hunter was exhausted at the end of the game but his defense was the difference for us."

Hamlin also did his part offensively, injecting 15 points into an already efficient offense.

"If it wasn't for Hunter, we don't win a game like this," Swingle said. "He worked his butt off tonight. He's a great teammate. Offensively, he's got nice touch and defensively, he was our best player tonight."

Stat book

After Swingle and Hamlin, Cruz McFadden added 10 points to the Bearcats' total while Bryce Newland had nine points, a team-high 13 rebounds and five assists. Caden Grubb also chipped in with five points and a six dimes.

For Piketon, Alex Blanton led the way with 17 points and four boards while Perdue had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Scott Lightle was also a factor, scoring eight points and collecting four rebounds.

What's on tap

Piketon and Paint Valley will both be in action Friday evening. The Redstreaks travel to Unioto while the Bearcats host Southeastern.

"I just want to keep contributing to my team the best that I can," Swingle said. "No matter what happens in the regular season, we want a good tournament run. We want to make it back to (Ohio University's Convocation Center). That's been our goal all year long."

Box Score

Paint Valley: 17-14-18-16 — 65

Piketon: 11-17-11-13 — 52

Paint Valley: 26-50 FG, 11-16 FT, 2-8 3pt. (Newland 1, McFadden 1), 35 rebounds (Newland 13), 19 turnovers, 16 assists (Grubb 6). Scoring: Swingle 26, Hamlin 15, McFadden 10, Newland 9, Grubb 5.

Piketon: 19-67 FG, 13-19 FT, 1-16 3pt. (Blanton 1), 35 rebounds (Perdue 13), 14 turnovers, 7 assists (Little 3). Scoring: Blanton 17, Perdue 14, Lightle 8, Reader 5, Taylor 4, Veach 2, Harris 2.