Kessee shoots Valley boys past Chaparral

Chaparral's boys basketball team held a three-point lead and the inside track on a home playoff game at halftime Friday night.

Then Valley's Christian Kessee shot the Vikings into the lead and pushed the Cowboys onto the road for the postseason.

Kessee scored 15 of his 23 points in the third quarter to lead the Vikings to a 69-52 road win over Chaparral. Valley (18-10, 9-5 Northeast League) clinched the Northeast League's No. 2 playoff seed and secured a home game to start the Sunrise Region tournament.

"If he gets a squared-up look, he's as good as anybody," Valley coach Brian Farnsworth said of Kessee. "I'm glad he's playing for us. He's a great kid, works hard in practice and does whatever is asked of him."

On Friday, Kessee was asked to pick up the offense after making just one field goal in the first half. He responded by making 6 of 7 field goals, including three 3-pointers, in the third quarter.

"My team got me into it and told me to keep shooting, so I just did what I had to do for us to win," Kessee said.

Kessee wasted no time getting things going after the break, knocking down a 3-pointer 14 seconds into the third quarter to tie the game at 32. Chaparral (13-15, 7-7) didn't lead again.

As good as Kessee was on offense, Valley's defense might have been the key to the comeback. The Vikings held Chaparral to seven second-half field goals, and the Cowboys were 2-for-13 from the field in the fourth quarter.

"We're only as good as our defense," Farnsworth said. "We held them to 20 points in the second half; that was huge."

Valley will host Liberty (16-12) in a Sunrise Region quarterfinal Wednesday.

Jarrett Coleman had 11 points and Khristian Kirkwood 10 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Vikings.

Chris Goodloe had 12 points and seven rebounds for Chaparral, which will travel to Coronado (22-6) for the first round of the region tournament.

Contact Prep Sports Editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.