On Tuesday, the Vikings defeated Division I Troy (6-3) by three points. On Wednesday, they lost by three points at Division I Westerville North (6-1). On Friday, nonconference rival, recent nemesis and fellow Division III brethren Versailles came to town.
The Vikings showed a lot of what makes them a 10-1 team in a 69-51 victory.
“This last week was a tough week for us,” East coach Justin Roeth said. “We wanted to know where our guys would be. Are we up for the challenge? And they did a really good job of just competing.”
In a 16-7 season last year, the Vikings lost at Versailles by nine during the holiday week. Then the Tigers knocked the Vikings out of the tournament with their 19th victory. This time, however, the Tigers (4-5) were not able to keep pace, falling behind 16 at halftime and as many as 22 in the second half.
The Vikings are led in scoring by Wes Enis and Jacob Roeth, the coach’s son. But Friday’s good start was fueled by players who don’t usually score much. The Tigers’ defense focused on the big two, freeing Camren Monnin to swish back-to-back 3-pointers in transition and Devon Abshire to make two mid-range jumpers to lead the supporting cast. Monnin finished with 12 points and Abshire 11.
After the start, Enis and Roeth resumed their normal roles of stretching the lead. Enis made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points and Roeth scored 14, including the 1,000th of his career on a runner in the lane just before the halftime buzzer.
Roeth is the seventh Miami East boys player to surpass 1,000 points and did so in his 58th game. Enis, who missed half his freshman season with a broken leg, has over 800 points and should reach 1,000 this season.
“In the locker room Jacob spoke up and said, none of my points would have been possible without my teammates,” Justin Roeth said. “He’s a team-first guy, and so it was fun to have that for everyone on our team, but a special accomplishment for him.”
Roeth and Enis are cousins and began talking about accomplishments like 1,000 points and deep tournament runs when they were in fifth grade.
“We’ve always talked about it and achieving the goal around the same time,” Roeth said. “It’s a huge milestone that we’ve always strived for each other to get.”
Defending Connor Stonebraker was Enis’ job. Stonebraker at 6-foot-5 has three inches on Enis. He came in averaging 23 points and is headed to Division II Hillsdale in Michigan next year. Enis along with some double-team help from teammates held Stonebraker to four points in the first half and 16 for the game.
“We thought Wes did an exceptional job,” Justin Roeth said. “He takes a ton of pride in getting defensive stops. He’s outsized, but he’s strong. He did a really good job of just bodying into him. We say when we play him to not let him loose.”
The Vikings now turn their attention to remaining unbeaten in the Three Rivers Conference and getting ready for the tournament, putting last year’s early exit behind them.
“We’re miles ahead,” Enis said. “After we lost that game, we talked in locker room about how there were no seniors and we returned everybody. We didn’t miss a beat the first practice.”
Ironically, it was the loss (Westerville North) that made Enis see how far the Vikings have come.
“We got down, but the last two minutes we looked like a veteran team,” Enis said. “We got stops, made some free throws, got some rebounds. We’ve got that experience now to compete with these big teams.”
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