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Trenton Driskill is surrounded by Andover defenders Feb. 12. Driskill had 13 points in the 63-52 road loss to the Trojans.

Valley Center loses at Hutch, Andover
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: February 14, 2019

The struggles continue for the Valley Center High School boys basketball team with two more losses in the past week.

Valley lost 63-52 on Feb. 12 at Andover and 54-51 on Feb. 8 at Hutchinson. For the season, the Hornets are 6-11 and 2-7 in Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League II.

The Hornets did not get off to the kind of start they wanted at Andover, going 0 for 12 in the first quarter. Isaiah Maikori scored eight points, all on layups, as the Trojans led 10-0 after the first quarter. For all intents and purposes, that was the ball game.

"I thought we got good shots around the basket," coach Ty Unrau said. "The second chance points were there to be had in the first half. Especially in the first quarter.

"We missed bunnies. It was a chance to set the tone inside. We went inside, we had the advantage inside. We couldn't get anything to fall. … It was tough to recover from that."

Jakob Byrne got Valley's first points on a 3-pointer early in the second quarter. Andover scored the next five before the Hornets scored again to make it 15-5. Valley got to within nine on a pair of free throws from Byrne, but the Trojans extended their lead to 12 points, 23-11, at halftime.

Things got even worse for Valley Center, as Andover raced out to its largest lead of the game, 35-15, midway through the third quarter. A three-point play by Myles Thompson snapped Andover's run.

Given the Hornets' disastrous first quarter, there would be no last-minute rally this night. A 45-31 deficit after three quarters was just too much for them to overcome.

Trailing 58-41, Valley made its final push. A three-point play from Trenton Driskill, two free throws from Eli Isaacs and a basket from Zach Williams got the Hornets to within 10 at 58-48 with just under four minutes to play.

Four consecutive empty possessions kept the Hornets from getting the deficit under 10, as Andover pulled away with a 15-4 run for the final score.

"Our press wasn't as effective as it needed to be and as it was the first time against them," Unrau said. "We didn't sprint like we needed to getting back. That's what you have to do if you're trying to make a comeback is not allow scorebacks."

Maikori led all scorers with 23 points. All 10 of his field goals were layups.

Trenton Driskill scored 13 points for Valley Center, but was only 6 for 18 from the field. Myles Thompson added 11 points on 3 for 12 shooting. The Hornets hit 28 percent (16 of 57) from the field.

An all too familiar refrain occurred again in Valley Center's loss at Hutchinson: Go into the fourth quarter trailing, rally to take the lead and falter down the stretch.

"They hit a tough shot at the end," Unrau said of the Salthawks. "We battled back and took two leads, but it shouldn't have come down to that. We played with such urgency, such fire — especially in the fourth quarter and late in the third quarter, too. But it wasn't enough."

Valley trailed most of the game before rallying three times to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Down 36-28 at the start of the quarter, a 3-pointer from Williams and a 2-pointer by Thompson sliced the deficit to three, 36-33.

The Salthawks extended their lead to 43-37 but the Hornets made another push. Isaacs and Byrne each hit from beyond the arc to make it 44-43. Two free throws from Parker Schrater with 3:32 to play gave Valley a 45-44 lead, its first since 4-2.

Tare Webster hit a 3 to put Hutch back on top. Byrne countered with his second trey of the quarter for a 48-47 lead with 1:45 remaining.

After Valley fell behind again, Isaacs hit from long range to give the Hornets their last lead of the game, 51-49, with 65 seconds left.

"We had two-point lead with a minute left," Unrau said. "They held it to about 30-some seconds, took a tough shot and hit it."

That tough shot was a 3-pointer by Jacob Cole with 32 seconds left that put the Salthawks up to stay, 52-51. A pair of free throws accounted for the final score.

"We needed one stop at the end so we could get the board and get fouled, and they hit a 3," Unrau said. "That's a tough way to get beat after fighting back and playing so well in the second half."

Up 8-7 late in the first quarter, Hutch scored the next six points to lead 14-7 at quarter's end. With a 24-16 lead at halftime, the Salthawks extended their advantage to double digits in the third quarter. Their largest lead was 34-22 before the Hornets got to within eight, 36-28, at the end of the quarter.

"We were really cold early and couldn't get much going offensively," Unrau said. "Defense wasn't bad throughout the game."

Three Salthawks scored in double figures, led by Cole with 15.

Isaacs led the Hornets with 12 points, while Thompson scored 10.

JV wins twice — Valley broke the game open when it outscored Hutch 18-4 in the third quarter en route to a 49-39 victory. Kaleb Harden scored 12 points and Hunter Sharp 10.

The Hornets withstood a fourth-quarter charge by Andover to win 38-36. Sharp scored 10 for Valley Center.

Frosh lose two — A big first quarter proved to be the difference as Hutchinson downed Valley Center 54-44. Noah Simmons tallied 22 points for the Hornets.

Andover led 33-12 at halftime and rolled to a 66-44 victory. Kade Wilson led Valley Center with 12 points.

Andover 63,

Valley Center 52

VC 0 11 20 21 — 52

AND 10 13 22 18 — 63

Valley Center

Driskill 6-18 1-1 13, Isaacs 3-13 2-3 9, Schrater 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 3-12 5-7 11, Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 0-4 4-4 4, Byrne 1-2 6-6 9, Lutz 0-1 0-1 0, Williams 3-6 0-1 6. 3-pt. goals (2-14): Byrne 1-2, Isaacs 1-4, Driskill 0-1, Carter 0-1, Schrater 0-1, Williams 0-1, Thompson 0-4. Totals 16-57 18-23 52.

Andover

Johnson 2-11 2-2 6, Maikori 10-12 3-5 23, Taylor 3-8 0-1 7, Jonas 4-7 4-4 12, A. Gagnon 3-12 0-1 7, Gaddis 0-0 4-6 4, Pierce 1-1 1-2 4. 3-pt. goals (3-19): Pierce 1-1, A. Gagnon 1-5, Taylor 1-6, Maikori 0-1, Jonas 0-1, Johnson 0-5. Totals 23-52 14-21 63.

Hutchinson 54,

Valley Center 51

VC 7 9 12 23 — 51

HUT 14 10 12 18 — 54

Valley Center

Driskill 1-6 1-2 3, Isaacs 4-7 2-2 12, Schrater 0-0 2-2 2, Thompson 4-12 2-4 10, Gray 0-3 0-0 0, Carter 1-4 4-4 6, Byrne 2-6 3-4 9, Lutz 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 4-5 0-2 9. 3-pt. goals (5-17): Isaacs 2-4, Byrne 2-5, Williams 1-1, Carter 0-1, Lutz 0-2, Thompson 0-4. Totals 16-46 14-20 51.

Hutchinson

Blake 1-4 3-4 5, Cole 5-16 2-4 15, Kraus 5-7 0-0 10, Heneha 1-3 2-2 4, Webster 3-9 3-5 10, Burns 3-6 0-0 7, Holmberg 0-0 0-0 0, Huhs 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 1-2 0-0 3.  3-pt. goals (6-20): Cole 3-8, Davis 1-2, Burns 1-3, Webster 1-4, Blake 0-1, Heneha 0-2. Totals 19-48 10-15 54.

Junior varsity

Valley Center 38,

Andover 36

VC scoring — Sharp 10, Harden 8, Phillips 8, Byrne 3, Flora 3, Dalrymple 2, Burns 2, Dessenberger 2.

Valley Center 49, Hutchinson 39

VC scoring — Harden 12, Sharp 10, Dessenberger 8, Dalrymple 7, Flora 5, Stacy 2, Phillips 2, Simmons 2, Burns 1.

Freshmen

Andover 66,

Valley Center 44

VC scoring — Wilson 12, Romig 8, Simmons 8, Bass 7, Petrie 4, Arbuckle 2, Schmelzle 2.

Hutchinson 54,

Valley Center 44

VC scoring — Simmons 22, Wilson 11, Martin 5, Romig 4, Arbuckle 2.






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