Escape Act: Tri-Valley boys survive West M rally
DRESDEN — It seems Tri-Valley has been in games like Tuesday's every night this season.
The Scotties again found themselves square in the middle of a white-knuckler, this time with Muskingum Valley League-Small School Division leader West Muskingum.
The neighboring Tornadoes brought 15 wins into The Dawg House and took the Scotties down to the final whistle, cutting a 10-point deficit to one with 52 seconds left.
But timely defense saved the day, as Jack Porter's contested pull-up 3-pointer from the left wing in the closing seconds was off target and preserved a 49-46 crossover win.
Max Lyall scored 16 points with a trio of 3s, had four assists and three steals for Tri-Valley (13-6, 11-2 MVL-Big), which has seen five of its last six games decided by single digits. It has survived them all but New Lexington, a game Lyall had a game-winning 3 hit off the back iron as time expired.
While teams will submit their records for the Division II East District tournament drawing as early as today, Tri-Valley still has league games against Sheridan (on Friday), John Glenn (next Tuesday) and Philo (next Friday), as it aims to remain one game back of Maysville in the standings.
"It's always a battle to go on the road down there in Perry County," Tri-Valley coach Todd McLoughlin said. "(Reed) Coconis and (Raine) Rodich are two solid guards that will give anybody trouble. Coach (Doug) Fisher always does a good job and he'll have them ready to play."
West (15-4, 11-2 MVL-Small) is in a fight of its own, needing wins against Morgan and Meadowbrook to set up a final-game showdown against New Lexington, over which it leads by one game in the standings.
Tuesday's game saw West lead 21-20 at halftime after scoring five straight points to end the second quarter, but an 8-1 run to start the third — all on layups, two from Darden — sent the Scotties ahead to stay at 28-22.
Steering the win home was stressful task, however.
West went down 42-32 with 6:08 left in the fourth, only to see Tri-Valley go without a field goal the rest of the game. It allowed the Tornadoes to chip away, scoring 13 of the next 17 points to get within 46-45 on two Jake Anton free throws.
Just when the Scotties looked to be losing their foothold, McLoughlin substituted reserve guard Brady Kaufman into the lineup to provide another shooter. He came through swimmingly, hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 48-45.
Tri-Valley went to the line again with 14.9 left up 48-46, but Lyall split two free throws, giving West a chance. Porter brought the ball up with the 6-4 Lyall clinging to him, but he never got a clean look.
West finished 3-of-13 on 3s.
"We practice that shot," Porter said. "I know it's hard to blame yourself for one shot, but I feel obligated being in that position that I have to make it. My teammates were very supportive after the game, saying that's not what lost it, but to me, it's going to sting for a little bit."
West shot 32 percent overall, while Tri-Valley pulled down 14 offensive rebounds in dominating the glass, 33-23. Nohah Nichols, a 6-4 sophomore, had seven among his game-high 13 as he and classmate Terrell Darden, himself 6-4, continue to be terrors on the glass.
Despite this, West still had the ball with a chance to force overtime.
"They are a dangerous team," said McLoughlin, a former All-Ohio guard with the Tornadoes in 1990-91. "We took some ill-advised shots, a couple of those late we should have been more patient. Our guys want to keep going, going, going. But if you hit one of those, you know what happens. It's ball game. I give (West) credit. They played really hard all night long."
Lyall helped limit Porter, the Tornadoes' top scorer and assist man, to two second-half points after piling up 13 in the first, including a pair of 3s. He gave up some quickness but had a five-inch height advantage in his corner to contest shots.
"I thought Max gave another great defensive effort in the fourth again," McLoughlin said. "I'm not sure what Porter ended up with, but Max made him earn everything."
Tri-Valley hit 7 of 9 free throws in the final 3:07, with Nichols and Jayden Walker hitting two each on consecutive possessions. But three turnovers down the stretch, along a missed front end of a 1-and-1, were potentially fatal.
They escaped this time, despite a 3-of-18 showing on 3s and 15 turnovers. They improved to 7-1 at home, which included last Friday's win against unbeaten Maysville.
Having one of the top teams in the MVL roll in a few days later helped them refocus.
"It's straight gas the rest of the way on," Walker, who had 10 points, said of the remaining schedule. "It let us push Maysville in the past. We have to keep preparing. One good game doesn't mean anything."
Gage Newsom added eight points and Jacob Allen scored five of his seven in the fourth quarter, including a 3 that made it a 46-43 game with 1:36 left.
The Tornadoes no doubt left wondering what could have been, especially given it missed two front ends of 1-and-1s to start the fourth and drew a fourth foul on Nichols with seven minutes left. They also missed a transition layup in the final seconds of the third, trailing 35-32.
"We know this is tough environment to play in, but every night we have confidence that we're going to win," Porter said. "We knew they were solid all-around, so we had to come in and outplay them."
Ryan Lamonica piled up 17 points and Keaton Hahn 11 in Tri-Valley's 55-36 reserve win. Reid Lemity had 11 points for West M.
sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Escape Act: Tri-Valley boys basketball survives West Muskingum rally
