Valley holds off late South Park rally to earn 1st playoff victory since ’09

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, February 21, 2018 | 11:37 PM

Valley had built up a generous lead, up by as much as 15 early in the fourth quarter.

But the Vikings had to withstand a late 3-point barrage by South Park to post a 76-69 victory Wednesday night at North Hills Middle School.

The Class 4A opening-round victory sends No. 9 Valley (14-4) to the WPIAL quarterfinals against top-seeded Quaker Valley at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Geneva College in Beaver Falls.

Dru Stokes scored 22 points to lead the Vikings, and Deonte Ross added 21, mostly on put-back shots.

The Vikings were ahead 57-42 on a bank shot by Stokes with 6 minutes, 11 seconds left in the game. But the Eagles (12-10) fired up six 3-point baskets in the fourth quarter, cutting the Valley lead to 71-67 on a 3 by Jake Snodgrass with 45.8 seconds to go.

Stokes then canned four free throws to secure Valley's first WPIAL playoff win since a victory over Laurel Highlands on Feb. 17, 2009.

“We were really happy to close it out and get a ‘W' there,” Vikings coach Mark Faulx said.

“It's the playoffs, survive and advance. Our guys are a really good group of guys who have worked hard. We had a tough loss in the first round of the playoffs last year.”

Valley surrendered a 11-point lead to McGuffey in last year's first-round defeat.

One of the keys to Wednesday night's victory was rebounding where three Vikings were in double figures — Darius Johnson had 13, Ross 12 and Stokes 10.

“That was a good night,” Faulx said of his team's boardwork. “I thought we had a good, consistent effort and performance. Balanced scoring and rebounding is certainly a plus.”

“They hurt us on the boards,” South Park coach Jason Dolak said. “They're a good team; they're athletic, strong and quick.”

With the Eagles leading 19-18 with 4:47 left in the first half, South Park's Jake Snodgrass was called for a technical after reacting to a call. Stokes sank the two free throws and the Valley possession resulted in two more free throws from Roman Flenory.

On the following possession, Alex Ward hit one of his four 3-pointers to give Valley a 25-19 advantage as the Vikings tallied seven points in 50 seconds to take the lead for good.

A 3-pointer by Stokes with 8 seconds left in the half — his first field goal of the night — gave Valley a 36-28 halftime lead.

“Our shots started falling as the game went on.” Stokes said. “I think we got used to the rims, we got used to their style of play and we just started to intertwine with each other.”

The Vikings' first double-digit lead came when Ward nailed a 3-pointer after a rebound was tipped out to the Valley guard beyond the arc with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

In the Eagles' frantic comeback attempt, Devin Turner fired in a trio of 3-pointers as South Park eventually cut the deficit to four.

“Tonight, things didn't fall in for us like we're used to,” Dolak said. “We didn't get the stops we needed to in key moments.”

Turner led five South Park players in double figures with 15 points and added nine rebounds.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: South Park, Valley