Trojans come back to edge Knights
Silver Valley reaches the championships game of the Royals Christian Classic
By Jack Tucker, Special to the Desert Dispatch
VICTORVILLE -- Silver Valley head coach Narciso Alonzo and Academy for Academic Excellence head coach Bryan Vieria knew before the tip-off of their semifinal match up in the Royals Christian Classic on Thursday night that it would be a difficult contest.
It lived up to its billing as the Trojans came from behind to beat the Knights 58-55 at Victor Valley Christian School.
Silver Valley (2-0) was behind the entire first half but 1 minute, 20 seconds into the second half, the Trojans began to fight back as they took a one point lead at 27-26 on Jemel Kyles' 3-pointer.
The teams traded baskets and the lead three times but with the score knotted at 32-32 and 4:28 remaining in the period, the Trojans took control.
Silver Valley went on a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 45-36 at the end of the third quarter.
AAE didn't give up and climbed back to regain the lead at 53-52 with 3:12 to play in the game.
But the Trojans' Devin Irvin gave his team the lead for good at 54-52 with 1:45 to play.
A pair of free throws by Kenny McGarth closed the gap to one at 56-55 with fifteen seconds left.
The Knights had fouls to give and sent Charles Brown and Irvin to the line during the last 10 seconds and each made one of two free throws for the 58-55 advantage.
The Knights had one last chance as they inbounded the ball with 3 seconds left only to have Kyles steal it and dribble to a corner as the clock ran out.
"This was a team effort all the way," Irvin said. "Relentless is the word I would use for our effort tonight."
A pleased Narciso Alonzo deferred any post game comments to his players whom he indicated deserved all the attention for their effort.
"I knew that we had to come up with something big at the end and I think I did that with the stolen pass." Kyles said.
The Knights (2-1) went on two spurts in the first period, first an opening 5-0 run and then at the end of the quarter a 9-3 run that gave AAE what seemed to be a comfortable 16-8 advantage.
The Trojans opened the second period with a quick 3-0 run to cut the lead to 16-11. The Knights responded with a 4-0 run over their own to extended the margin to 20-11.
AAE went cold for the next four minutes while the Trojans cut into the lead and with under a minute to play in the second period the Knight lead was one at 25-24 and that's the way the half ended.
McGrath sank one of two free throws early in the third quarter which gave it a two-point lead at 26-24.
"We played with a lot of heart and we over came," Silver Valley's Harold Riley said.
Waiting in the wings for the Trojans will be either Apple Valley Christian or Mojave who played the final game on Thursday night.
Silver Valley (58)
Riley 17, Brown 11, Irvin 8, Crump 8, Kyles 7, Brickhouse 4, Barnes 3
AAE (55)
Pugh 21, K. McGrath 12, Vieria 7, L. McGrath 6, Shade 5, Gruver 4
Silver Valley 8 16 21 13 -- 58
AAE 16 9 11 19 -- 55
3-point field goals -- Silver Valley 2 (Kyles, Crump); AAE 1 (Vieria). Fouled out -- K. McGrath (AAE); Milton (SV). Technical foul - Silver Valley bench.
Used with permission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2005