Valley conquers jitters, Liberty

Teams often lean on their seniors in the postseason.

For Valley, that means Adalberto Garcia, the lone senior to play for the Vikings on Wednesday. And though he made only one field goal, it was a big one.

Garcia knocked down a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to break a 32-32 tie, and Valley didn't trail again in its 51-47 win over visiting Liberty in a Sunrise Region quarterfinal.

"That was huge senior leadership," Valley coach Brian Farnsworth said. "He got us into the play with five seconds left and called his own number and came through."

The shot was especially important for a young Valley team that started five juniors. Eight juniors saw the floor for the Vikings (17-11).

"I don't know if any of our kids have ever been in the playoffs," Farnsworth said. "We had some playoff anxiety, and it kind of showed. We didn't shoot the ball like we're capable of."

Valley was 17-for-46 from the floor (36.9 percent) against Liberty's zone defense.

"We played exactly how we wanted to," Liberty coach Pat Welby said. "We sat in a zone and took away their dribble penetration. And our guys did a good job of following our game plan. We just missed too many free throws. That's the difference right there."

Liberty (16-13), which made 14 of 27 free throws, missed five foul shots in the fourth quarter.

Valley led 48-42 after a dunk by Angelo Coleman with 37 seconds to go. But a three-point play by Liberty's Thomas Lauguico cut the Patriots' deficit to 48-45. Following a Valley turnover, Lauguico scored on a drive to make it 48-47 with 17 seconds left.

Valley made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 15 seconds. The Vikings were 8-for-13 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Coleman led the Vikings with 13 points, and teammate Christian Kessee scored 10.

Giovanni Shelton scored 13 points -- nine in the fourth quarter -- to lead Liberty. Ashante Ross added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Patriots.

Valley plays Foothill in the semifinals at 4:40 p.m. today at Liberty. Coronado plays Canyon Springs in the other semifinal at 8.

■ Foothill 82, Desert Pines 69 -- At Foothill, Evan Roquemore had 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to power the Falcons.

Augy French added 23 points and 10 rebounds for Foothill (22-6). Ty Copeland supplied 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Falcons.

Chancellor Davis led the Jaguars (10-13) with 26 points.

■ Coronado 73, Chaparral 66 -- At Coronado, Austin Nelson had 27 points and 11 assists as the Cougars rallied from an early 22-16 deficit to eliminate the Cowboys.

Brandon Glanz added 23 points and 15 rebounds for Coronado (23-6).

Bre Onta Griffin paced Chaparral (13-16) with 19 points.

■ Canyon Springs 91, Silverado 70 -- At Canyon Springs, Michael Thompson scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half as the Pioneers bolted to a 27-12 first-quarter lead en route to the victory.

Adrian Snow added 14 points and five rebounds for Canyon Springs (23-3). Donald Anderson had 13 points and five assists and Jeremy Alexander 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots for the Pioneers, who held the Skyhawks to nine second-quarter points.

Dwayne Marshall and Daniel Young scored 14 points apiece for Silverado (14-13), and Ruben Jackson supplied 12.