Story byThe Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioKevin Colley, The Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioSat, December 6, 2025 at 2:16 AM UTC·7 min readWhen a team has two or three individuals that can reach double-figures in scoring on any given night, it can be difficult for any opposing team to contain — as any team who has three individuals hitting double-figures will have a puncher’s chance in any game it plays in. However, when a team has potentially five, or even more, players who can do that, and play committed team defense without much falloff, it can make said team a real threat to contend for a deep postseason run. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith just one senior, Christian Copen, on its roster for the 2025-26 season, it appears that the Valley Indians’ boys basketball program is ahead of the curve, not only in ability but in overall buy-in. Craig Tackett’s group sits 2-0 after commanding victories over archrival Piketon (64-37) and Manchester (68-44) to begin the 2025 season. After getting two efforts of 60 or more points while holding the Redstreaks and the Greyhounds to less than 45 points in wins of 27 and 24 points, respectively, it comes as no surprise to get Tackett’s feelings on his group’s efforts as a whole.“I’m really excited about where we are at,” Tackett said. “We’ve got one senior, and we might be young on paper, but we only lost one senior from last year, so a lot returns from last year’s group, but we’re still young.
