Versatile Vikings overwhelm Mars
ADAMS TWP — In the first half of Friday's game against Mars, Valley showed the kind of damage it can do inside.
In the second half, it showed it could be equally as good from the outside.
Behind 18 first-half points from Troy Hill, almost exclusively in the paint, the Vikings boys basketball team built a nine-point halftime lead, then used a 14-1 run early in the third quarter, including four 3-pointers, to cruise to a 79-62 section victory.
Despite the win, Vikings coach Vernon Benson has been looking for some consistency in his team, which is battling for a playoff spot.
"We're still a young team playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and with that you get a lot of inconsistencies," said Benson.
"We'll be good one day, then the next be a little lethargic. The same from one half to another," Benson added.
After a basket by Mars' Vinny Smith with 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter trimmed the Valley lead to 16-15, the Vikings (12-7, 5-3) scored the next eight points in a 52-second span to open a 24-15 lead.
"I don't think there was one specific thing that happened that got them going," said Mars coach Rob Carmody. "Troy Hill took the game over. He had 18 points in that half right around the basket.
"We talked in practice the day before about us getting the ball inside. One-third of our shots were behind the arc and that's not a formula of success for us. When you're behind you don't have much choice, but in the first half we had some scores inside,"Carmody added.
When Steve Cress opened the second half with a score inside, the Planets (8-10, 3-6) trailed 40-33.
"We had hoped to grab some momentum," said Carmody. "We got the first possession, we scored and made it a seven-point game. That's three possessions. Then they kick it out and get a 3-pointer.
"All the momentum you had, they got it right back,"Carmody added.
The 3-pointer, by Hill, sparked the 14-1 run by the Vikings, which also included two treys from Mike Trenski and another from Denzel Carter, and allowed the Vikings to open a 54-34 advantage with 4:04 left in the third quarter.
Trailing 62-40 late in the third quarter, the Planets did score 11 of the next 13 points — highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Chris Herold and one by Christian Locher — to make it a 64-51 game with 6:18 remaining, but Mars couldn't inch any closer.
"I was happy with our fourth quarter," said Carmody. "It could have gotten ugly, but our kids kept coming. Our energy, we spent it all.
Hill finished the game with a game-high 27 points while Trenski added 20 and Geoffry Fuquay added 10 points. Mars used a balanced scoring attack, paced by Cress (14), Herold (13), Smith (12) and Dave Petruska (11).
VALLEY79Mike Trenski 6 6-6 20, Geoffry Fuquay 4 1-2 10, Troy Hill 13 0-0 27, Bryan Rayburg 1 2-2 5, Tyrese Collins 3 2-3 8, Joseph Mandak 1 0-0 2, Denzel Carter 3 0-0 7. Totals: 31 11-13 79.
MARS 62Chris Herold 5 1-2 13, Justin Stadelmyer 0 0-0 0, Dave Petruska 3 2-3 11, Vinny Smith 6 0-0 12, Steve Cress 5 4-10 14, Ben Szilogy 1 0-0 3, Christian Locher 1 0-0 3, Luke Gruber 1 0-0 2, Alec Mahon 0 0-0 0, Dante Detillio 2 0-2 4. Totals: 24 7-17 62.
Valley 18 22 22 17—79Mars 15 16 12 19—623-point goals: Trenski 2, Fuquay, Carter, Hill, Rayburg; Petruska 3, Herold 2, Szilogy, Locher
JV: Mars 48, 44
Tuesday: Quaker Valley at Mars
