CHERRY TWP — Zach Sloan's smile stretched wide as he tossed the ball to his family in the stands.

Sloan, a 6-foot-3 senior forward for the Moniteau boys basketball team, had just scored his 1,000th career point in the fourth quarter of the Warriors' 74-35 rout of A-C Valley Thursday night.

“I didn't even want to think about it,” Sloan said, still beaming after a dominating 29-point, 14-rebound performance. “I just wanted to come out, play well and win.”

Sloan needed 28 points to reach the milestone and didn't think he would get it in the regular-season finale.

When he hit the mark on a layup with five minutes left in the game, he pumped his fist as the Moniteau bench erupted.

“I have to thank all my teammates. That's all I can say,” Sloan said. “Without them getting me the ball in the post, I don't get a chance to score points and we don't get to go to the playoffs. It shows just how good teammates they are and how good a team we have.”

The Warriors certainly were good Thursday.

Sloan scored only two points in the first quarter as the two teams were locked in a close battle.

But that, like Sloan's offensive night, soon changed.

Moniteau (14-8, 9-1) roared out to a 29-13 lead on the strength of a 16-1 run, but A-C Valley closed the gap to 10 points by the half.

The second half was a disaster for the Falcons (10-12, 5-5), as Moniteau opened the third quarter with 16 straight points and took a 26-point lead.

“We talked at halftime about coming out and getting back into it a little bit at a time,” said A-C Valley coach Jim Marron. “We weren't going to get back into it all at once. I'm not sure exactly what happened. We just got cold.”

A-C Valley made just two shots from the field in the second and third quarters, and had one of its worst shooting nights of the season at 24 percent.

Allan Eaton, the Falcons' 6-foot-6 senior, was frustrated by the Warriors, who put Jordan Smith and Heath Lominski on the big man.

Eaton scored just 10 points — only two after the first quarter.

“Oh, I loved it,” said Moniteau coach Randy Armagost of his defense. “I've been preaching for 12 years defense and foul shooting. If you can do those two things, don't worry about the offense. It will come.

Kyle Armagost tallied 12 points and 10 assists for Moniteau while Ryan Bartley paced A-C Valley with 11 points.

A-C Valley opens the District 9 Class A playoffs sometime next week.

“This game was really hard to get the kids into,” Marron said. “We didn't have anything to win or lose — our seeding was pretty much set. I just hope they get their heads back on straight for the playoffs.”

Moniteau will have 10 or 11 days to gear up for its first District 9 Class AA playoff game, which will be either Feb. 28 or March 1.

Both Randy Armagost and Sloan said they were not worried about the down time sapping the momentum the team has built in the last two weeks.

“We go hard in practice with intensity,” Sloan said. “We'll be ready to go.”

A-C VALLEY 35Adam Hirsch 0-4 0-2 0, Brody Irwin 1-5 1-3 3, Landon Delisio 1-3 0-0 2, Jeff Eaton 0-1 0-0 0, Cole Terwilliger 2-4 4-4 9, Ryan Bartley 2-10 7-12 11, Allan Eaton 4-12 1-1 10, Kevin Kaufman 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Ferris 0-2 0-0 0, Justin Roethen 0-1 0-0 0, Brenden Golden 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 10-42 13-22 35.

MONITEAU 74Kyle Armagost 5-9 2-3 12, Zach Sloan 13-21 3-4 29, Andrew Armagost 3-5 1-2 7, Heath Lominski 3-4 0-0 6, Jordan Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Ethan Pry 0-1 0-0 0, Dalton Shuler 3-8 0-0 6, Jarod Alcier 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Fleeger 2-5 0-0 4, Mitch Hunter 1-3 0-0 2, Jonathan Loos 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Holfelder 1-1 0-0 2, Colton Cumberland 1-1 0-0 2, Drew Yeckel 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 34-63 6-9 74.

A-C Valley 12 9 5 9—35Moniteau 15 16 22 21—743-point goals: A-C Valley 2 (A. Eaton, Terwilliger); Moniteau 0.

JV Score: A-C Valley 46-28