DURANGO TOURNEY: Valley proves worth, advances to tourney finals
Feeing overlooked isn’t always a bad thing.
Sometimes it can give you a little extra incentive to prove your true worth.
Valley continued to prove its value on Tuesday, defeating Denver East 58-41 to move into the championship game of the Amare Stoudemire bracket at the Amare Stoudemire Each 1 Teach 1 National Invitational at Durango.
“We’ve just been working hard,” junior guard Khristian Kirkwood said. “Everybody’s been doubting us since day one. So it feels good to get a chance to prove everybody wrong.”
The Vikings jumped on the Angels early, taking an 11-0 lead before Denver East scored with about 30 seconds left in the first quarter.
“We wanted to come out with intensity and play hard and set the tone,” Kirkwood said, who led Valley with 19 points and six rebounds.
“Everybody was playing hard, picking up. Everybody’s hungry.”
The Vikings have reason to be hungry after going 10-18 last season and missing the playoffs.
“Last year was a bad season for us,” Kirkwood said. “But this year, we’re 8-1, so it feels real good right now to keep winning and blowing teams out.”
Christian Kessee added 17 points for the Vikings, who play Mesquite (Ariz.) in the title game at 3:15 p.m.
Georgetown Prep (Md.) 68, Cheyenne 62 — The Desert Shields fell behind by as many as 17 and couldn’t recover in the semifinals of the Each 1 Teach 1 bracket.
Cheyenne rallied to get as close as one point down the stretch, but was unable to take the lead.
“We know as a coaching staff that we have kids who are physically able to compete with just about anybody they want to play against,” Cheyenne coach Teral Fair said. “The biggest thing the kids have to learn to do is just the mental approach. I don’t think our kids were mentally ready to go at the beginning of the game.”
The Hoyas took their largest lead at 59-42 on a pair of free throws by Markel Starks with 4:53 to go in the third quarter.
“In the second half they were mentally focused and locked in and ready to give an honest effort,” Fair said. “That was the biggest key to our comeback.”
The Desert Shields cut the lead to 62-60 on a dunk by Brian Organ with 1:44 to play. A post move by Organ cut the lead to 63-62 with 1:25 to go, but that was as close as the team got.
Chris McCall led Cheyenne with 24 points. Organ added 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Starks led all scorers with 28 points.
Fairfax (Calif.) 53, Durango 50 — The Lions made 8 of 9 field goals in the third quarter to take the lead and held on to edge the Trailblazers in the semifinals of the Each 1 Teach 1 bracket.
Durango led 23-19 at the half, but Fairfax outscored the Trailblazers 22-12 in the third quarter.
Ray Barry, Jordan Weathers and Donte McFrazier each had 15 points for Fairfax.
Greg Gentry had 17 points to lead Durango. He scored seven in the fourth quarter, including a driving layup with 11 seconds to play that cut the lead to 51-50.
McFrazier then got the ball to a wide open Laik Carter for a layup and the final margin.
Devonte Williams added 16 points for Durango.
Mesquite (Ariz.) 79, Palo Verde 69 — Isaiah Strong had 28 points — including seven 3-pointers — as the Wildcats beat the Panthers in the semifinals of the Amare Stoudemire bracket.
Strong had 10 points, with three 3-pointers, in the fourth quarter to help Mesquite pull away.
Palo Verde couldn’t overcome the ice-cold shooting of star forward Moses Morgan. The DePaul-bound Morgan was 4-for-23 from the field. He was just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Morgan had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Andrew Topham led the Panthers with 15 points and nine boards.
Josh Amaya added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Mesquite, and Jason Garretson scored 15 points.
Centennial 64, Douglas 60 — Evan Martin’s layup with 13 seconds to go broke a 60-60 tie, and the Bulldogs held on to beat the Tigers.
After Douglas tied the game on a steal and layup by Austin Neddenriep with 36 seconds to go, Centennial’s Ben Vozzola zipped a pass to Martin underneath the bucket for the go-ahead score.
Vozzola then had a steal and slam with six seconds left to seal the win.
Vozzola finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. Martin added 10 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Las Vegas 74, Pacific Hills (Calif.) 64 — Tyree Anderson scored 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats rallied for the win.
Las Vegas trailed 55-48 entering the fourth quarter.
Anderson finished with 28 points and was 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, all in the fourth quarter.
Hasaan Henderson added 20 points for the Wildcats.
Canyon Springs 65, Silverado 46 — Trey Evans and Jared Brandon each scored 17 points to lead the Pioneers over the Skyhawks.
Chris Willis added 11 points for Canyon Springs.
Ruben Jackson led Silverado with 18 points.
Shadow Ridge 73, Northwood (La.) 68 — Zach Hafen scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to help the Mustangs hold on.
Josh Youngblood added 14 points for Shadow Ridge. Zach Ducksworth scored 10 for the Mustangs.
Rancho 72, Basic 48 — The Rams held the Wolves to 12 first-half points on the way to the easy win.
Tyler Gaston led a balanced Rancho attack with 12 points. Twelve players scored for the Rams, and eight had at least five points.
Vince Carducci led Basic with 20 points.
Liberty 59, Chaparral 43 — Tim Rambo hit five 3-pointers and scored 22 points to lead the Patriots over the Cowboys.
Ashante Ross added 15 points for Liberty.
Chris Goodloe led Chaparral with 14 points.
Banning (Calif.) 64, Mojave 56 — The Pilots were 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in overtime to down the Rattlers.
Michael Alexander had six of his team-high 19 points in overtime for Banning. Teammate Dioncee Holts had 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Royale Jackson led Mojave with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Inglewood (Calif.) 66, Green Valley 56 — The Sentinels placed five players in double figures to down the Gators.
Deandre Kambala had 16 points to lead Green Valley. Durrell McDonald and Glenn Bewley added 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Gators.
