Trojans hold NFV in overtime

By Becky Walz,

Heading into Tuesday’s contest, the Turkey Valley boys’ basketball team knew it would take its best effort to get a win versus North Fayette Valley, who entered the game with an undefeated conference record and just one loss overall. The Trojans (9-4, 8-2 UIC) needed an extra four minutes to get the job done, but defeated the TigerHawks (10-2, 9-1 UIC) at home, 52-50.

“Coming in we prepped a couple different defenses to try and eliminate the ball from getting into the paint and we thought our half-court defense was great throughout the game,” said Coach Chris Sullivan.

The Trojans were caught on their heels in the first frame and were left trailing 18-10 as time expired. It was a stalemate between the two UIC squads in the second quarter as TV went into halftime down 25-17.

“At halftime we talked about the importance of valuing the basketball and holding them to one shot as they had a few easy baskets off of turnovers and we failed to box out on a few possessions that led to easy put-backs,” said Coach Sullivan.

The fourth period was a back-and-forth affair with both teams laying it on the line and answering each other with one big shot after another. The Trojans finally got a one-point lead with 13.6 seconds left in regulation; however, TV was called for a late foul which put NFV’s Kole Johnson at the charity stripe for two free throws. Johnson hit the first but missed the second to take the game to overtime.

Overtime had the same feel as the whole fourth quarter as TV continued to get stops and were patient on offense and hitting clutch free throws to hold on for a hard fought two-point victory. 

Kalvin Langreck led the way in scoring with 21 points and Garrett Kurtenbach threw in 20 points and hit big shot after big shot.

“This was a huge win for the boys, and it was a total team effort. There were multiple possessions late in the game where we had two or three guys diving on the floor trying to deflect passes and come up with loose balls and that was the grit and toughness it was going to take to beat them,” noted Coach Sullivan. 

Later this week, Friday, Jan. 22, the Trojans will travel to Lansing to compete versus Kee High at 7:30 p.m. TV will host Central Elkader Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m.

 

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