BUFFALO TWP — Freeport boys basketball coach Garrie Davies waited all evening for his offense to show some spark.

When it came, it wasn't enough.

Freeport, which trailed Valley by 19 points with 4:52 remaining, mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally, cutting the deficit to four points with 17 seconds left before dropping a 69-61 nonsection decision Tuesday.

“Our defense played well, but we made no offensive runs until the end,” Davies said.

“We kind of lost our mental toughness,” said Vikings coach Anthony Cheatham. “The thing is, we play at such a frantic pace in practice and we have to find that balance in the game.”

The Vikings used a 15-0 run in the first half to take a 19-8 lead in the second quarter before Freeport (1-1) answered with a 12-4 spurt to make it 23-20 with two minutes before the break.

A 3-pointer by Valley's Geoffrey Fuquay and a basket by Thomas Weremeychik closed out the half.

When Freeport's Brendan Lynch opened the second half with a score, the Yellowjackets trailed 28-22, but Valley (2-1) scored the next eight points for a 14-point edge.

After Valley built a 19-point advantage, the Yellowjackets began to dictate the tempo, particularly on defense, forcing the Vikings into several turnovers.

A 3-pointer and a free throw by Lynch, and a basket by Ryan Dunn in a 45-second span made it 56-43.

Lynch, who had 18 second-half points to finish with a team-high 20, scored, then Dunn added a trey and Lynch followed with another score — all in a 27-second span — to pull Freeport to 58-50 with 2:36 to play.

Valley held a 62-53 lead with 1:12 to play before a free throw and 3-pointer by Durand made it a five-point game with 51 seconds left.

Freeport cut the deficit to four points with 17 seconds left after a Shawn Liberto score, but Fuquay, who led all scorers with 27 points, sank four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“We talked about getting ready for (the section opener) Springdale on Friday,” Davies said. “This was a good challenge for us, Valley's size and athletic ability”

Fuquay was 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, eight of which came in the second half.

“This week. one of our main things was, at every water break, to have a foul shooting contest,” Cheatham said. “I didn't want to overlook that in practice. It looks like now it paid off.”

For the game, the Vikings were 18-of-23 from the line. Dom Lyons added 16 points and Weremeychik added 12 for the Vikings while Durand had 13 points for Freeport.

“We wanted to see what we could do against a quality team,” Davies noted. “Knoch and this game were physical. Playing these two teams was perfect for us to lead us into our next two section games.

VALLEY 69Anthony DiCarolis 2 1-2 5, Geoffrey Fuquay 8 10-10 27, Philip Green 1 0-0 2, Dom Lyons 6 4-4 16, Cameron Chambers 1 1-2 3, Thomas Weremeychik 6 0-1 12, Tyler Gardlock.

Totals: 25 18-23 69.

FREEPORT 61Derek Durand 5 1-6 13, Brendan Lynch 7 4-6 20, Jake Campbell 0 2-2 2, Shawn Liberto 3 1-2 7, Don Pastoria 1 6-10 8, Tyler Singer 0 0-0 0, Ryan Dunn 2 0-1 5, Cody McClelland 3 0-0 6.

Totals: 21 14-27 61.

Valley 7 21 16 25—69Freeport 8 12 10 31—613-point goals: Valley 1 (Fuquay); Freeport 5 (Durand 2, Lynch 2, Dunn).

Friday: Freeport at Springdale