Young’s big night sends Valley boys past Las Vegas
Playing on a front line with fellow forward Caleb Carter, Daniel Young is sometimes overshadowed on Valley’s boys basketball team.
The 6-foot-8-inch junior was hardly an afterthought Tuesday night.
Young had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks to power Valley to a 75-52 road win over Las Vegas, keeping the Vikings undefeated in Northeast League play.
“He was huge,” Vikings coach Brian Farnsworth said. “Physically, he’s a big, long kid. His presence is good on the court no matter what he’s doing. He protects the goal, and he had some big finishes tonight that really sparked us, and our kids fed off that energy.”
Young helped Valley (14-4, 5-0) follow its impressive win over Desert Pines on Friday with a complete performance.
Valley used smothering man-to-man defense to hold Las Vegas (11-6, 3-2) to 17-for-61 shooting from the field (27.9 percent). The Vikings set the tone early, outscoring the Wildcats 19-8 in the first quarter.
“After we did that, we just kept playing defense,” Young said of the fast start. “Defense won the game for us.”
Cameron Burton and Spencer Mathis hit two 3-pointers each in the second quarter as Valley used a 16-8 run to take a 40-19 lead.
“Spencer, he’d been off lately, but he got his confidence back and started shooting,” Young said of Mathis, who scored all nine of his points on 3-pointers.
Chris Swanson had 14 points and Burton 12 for the Vikings.
Valley won easily despite its three leading scorers as of last week, Ryan Johnson, Carter and Keanu Peters, combining for 16 points. But the trio made its presence felt in other areas.
Johnson had seven points and seven assists, Carter grabbed six rebounds, and Peters supplied seven points and four rebounds.
“Our kids are unselfish. They’re not afraid to pass the ball,” Farnsworth said. “Whoever has the hot hand, we get them the ball, and they just want to win.”
Farnsworth was pleased to see his team play with a sense of urgency early following a win Friday that left the Vikings alone in first place in the Northeast.
“Desert Pines is a great team, so sometimes after a big win like that, a team will have letdowns,” Farnsworth said. “Our kids believe they’re going to win every game they play. They came out and took care of business tonight, and I’m proud of them.”
Junior post player Aziz Leeks led Las Vegas with 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
Olynnso Pratt had eight points and Hasaan Henderson seven for the Wildcats.
