The Tri-Valley Mustang girls and boys basketball teams traveled to Mt Vernon to play the Mt Vernon/Plankinton Titans on Thursday, January 7th in a double-header. The girls fell to the Titans 50-33, while the boys came home with a 74-71 overtime win.
The Mustang girls had a couple of leads early in the game. Tri-Valley got out to a 9-3 lead with 3:33 to play in the opening quarter, but the Titans ended the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 12-11. Tri-Valley again had a 15-14 lead early in the second quarter, but Mt Vernon/Plankinton went on a 9-0 run and did not trail again in the game. The Titans led 27-20 at halftime and 40-27 at the end of the third quarter.
Tri-Valley only shot 29% (14-48) from the field in the game, 29% (6-21) from three-point area, and 3-4 from the free-throw line. The Mustangs had 29 team rebounds, but also had 20 turnovers.
Tabor Teel finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Steph Buchmann had seven points and four rebounds. Lauren Grinde and Blayne Gacke both had six rebounds each.
The Tri-Valley boys got a layup from Bryce Kienast with just :02 on the clock to tie the game against the Titans, and then ended the game on an 8-0 run in overtime for a 74-71 win.
The Mustangs struggled a little bit offensively, but made up for it by forcing 48 Mt Vernon/Plankinton turnovers with 25 of those on steals. Tri-Valley was just 34% (28-82) from the field, 17% (5-30) from three-point area, and 41% (13-32) from the free-throw line, but the relentless full court pressure defense helped them get the victory.
The Titans led at the end of the first quarter by a score of 22-16. They then started the second quarter on a 5-0 run and led 27-16. The Mustangs were only able to cut the lead down by one by halftime and trailed 38-28. Tri-Valley was able to get within four points by the end of the third quarter at 52-48, but Mt Vernon/Plankinton started the fourth quarter on another 5-0 run to lead 57-48 with 7:00 to play in regulation.
Tri-Valley led 63-62 with 1:30 to go, but the Titans got the next three points to go ahead 65-63. Mt Vernon/Plankinton beat the full court pressure in the final seconds, but missed two layups. Tyler Johnson got the defensive rebound and the ball got into Kienast’s hands for the game-tying layup with :02 to play.
The Titans again got out in front early in the overtime period. They scored the first five points for a 70-65 lead with 2:15 to play. Each team made a free-throw, and the score was 71-66 in favor of the Titans with 1:58 left in the game. The Mustangs got the go-ahead three-point shot by Lance DeWitt in the middle of the 8-0 run to end the game.
Riley Haynes had 25 points, six rebounds, and six steals. Kienast had 17 points and eight steals. Johnson also had 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and three assists. Nick Haas had seven points and six steals. Owen Besmer had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Both the girls and boys will play Tea on Tuesday, January 12th, but at different locations. The girls (4-3) will play in Tea, while the boys (3-3) will host Tea Area.