Ark Valley News - Second straight fourth-place Jam finish for Valley Center

Jason Barbour and Tyler Brown surround Maize South's Payten Ricks in the second half Jan. 23.

Second straight fourth-place Jam finish for Valley Center
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: January 29, 2015

In some respects, the 32nd annual January Jam resembled the 31st annual event for Valley Center. Both years the Hornets followed an opening win with a pair of losses and finished fourth.

Now 3-9 overall, Valley will take a 2-3 league mark into a Feb. 3 home AVCTL contest against Maize South.

Although Valley opened each of the last two Jams with a win, this year's first-round blowout was in contrast with last year's come-from-behind win. The Hornets put this game away early, rolling 65-44 over Ulysses. It was the most points they had scored all season.

"When we were patient, we passed the ball to one another, we found shots and shots fell," Valley coach John Wetig said. "That's the biggest lesson from tonight. It does work. If you pass the ball around and look for one another, good things happen."

After the Tigers took an early 3-0 lead, Valley reeled off 20 straight points. Blake Crager scored twice from the blocks, Tyler Brown swished a couple from behind the arc, and Carson Lee got a fast-break layup and a 3-pointer to highlight the run that ended with a 20-3 lead. The Hornets added another layup by Lee off the break and a jumper from Brown for a 24-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Lee finished with 18 points and hit four of six 3-pointers. It was the most points he had scored since recording 20 in the season-opener against Maize.

"I just spent more time in the gym than I had, practiced more on my shot," Lee said. "My teammates found me the ball, and I made it."

Dustin Johnston scored seven points in the second quarter and Brown added five, as the Hornets were in control 42-17 at intermission.

After halftime, the Hornets slowed down as Ulysses outscored them 27-23 in the second half.

Brown added 15 points, going three of five from 3-point range. The Hornets hit 45.8 percent (22 of 48) from the field and 9 of 14 (64.3 percent) from behind the arc.

"I thought that we did a good job of going in and trying to establish the inside game first which then opened up the perimeter," Wetig said.

Led by nine boards from Crager and six from Johnston, Valley outrebounded the smaller Ulysses squad 35-29.

Friday falter

As good as the Hornets played in the first round, they played equally poorly in the semifinals, as Maize South embarrassed them, 78-36.

"We just didn't fight very hard, to be honest with you. I just felt our toughness level was not where the level was last night," Wetig said. "When you play a team that's a little better than you, you got to be a little bit tougher."

A triple by Brown gave Valley its only lead of the game at 7-6. Deadlocked 10-all, Alex Martin flexed his 6-foot-7 muscles inside and scored Maize South's last nine points of the quarter for a 19-12 lead.

Maize South ramped it up in the second quarter, starting with five of six charities from Martin. Nate Brown scored to make it 27-17 before the Mavs put this one away. A 6-2 run closed out the quarter and gave them a 33-19 halftime advantage.

Valley Center could get no closer, as the Mavericks outscored the Hornets 45-17 in the second half. South turned up the jets and posted a 28-8 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Nate Brown pulled down six boards and Ryan Garcia five, as the Hornets surprisingly outrebounded the taller Mavericks 30-28, with 10 offensive boards.

But Maize South more than made up for that by scorching the nets at 52 percent (26 of 50) with 16 assists. The Mavs hit 24 of 33 free throws, as Valley committed 27 fouls.

It was a long night for the Hornets, who hit just 31 percent from the field and 17.6 percent (3 of 17) from behind the arc. Jason Barbour and Tyler Brown each scored seven for Valley.

Payten Ricks led four Mavs in double figures with 21. Martin finished with 19, including 11 of 12 from the stripe.

Saturday swoon

The Hornets played well enough to win its third-place game against Kansas City Turner but surrendered a second-half lead and lost 55-52.

"We let a couple of bad series of turnovers get to us a little bit," Wetig said. "We kind of let down a little bit ourselves. We put our heads down and said, ‘oh, no, here we go again,' instead of fighting through it."

Valley came out with an energy that was missing Friday. Down 3-2, Barbour hit from behind the arc, Caleb Claussen scored inside and Tyler Brown closed out the quarter with a 3-pointer for a 10-3 lead.

Barbour hit another trey on Valley's first possession of the second quarter and suddenly it was 13-3. Then the Golden Bears began to play to their strengths: defensive pressure, speed and the inside game.

After powering inside to score, Turner converted three steals into fast-break baskets. Then Valley committed a crucial mental error leading 19-13.

Andre Jackson scored inside for Turner and got the "and one" when Johnston fouled him; Johnston was also called for a technical foul. Jackson, who scored 19 points, hit all three free throws as the Bears pulled to within one.

"That hurt us," Wetig said. "That got them back into the game and kind of opened the door for them to start competing with us again."

On its ensuing possession after the technical foul free throws, Turner coughed up the ball. Nate Brown got out on the break and converted a layup for a 21-18 lead. Valley took a 24-20 lead in the locker room at intermission.

Late in the third quarter, Nate Brown drove the lane for a 36-30 lead. Darnell Miller hit a 3-pointer to slice the deficit in half. With 5 seconds left, Lui Rivera hit a wide-open trey to tie the game at 36.

Rivera's trey seemed to deflate the Hornets, as they slowly fell behind. The Bears scored the first four points of the fourth quarter and never trailed again. They led by 10 with less than 30 seconds to play.

Tyler Brown tried to pull out the game for Valley, but there just wasn't enough time. After being fouled on a made 3-pointer from the corner, Brown hit the free throw for a four-point play with 16.4 seconds left to make it 55-49.

At the other end of the court, Turner missed the front end of the bonus. Brown's desperation heave from about 25 feet out at an angle drew nothing but net for the final score as the buzzer sounded.

Led by Garcia with six rebounds and Nate Brown with five, the Hornets pounded the boards against the shorter Bears. Valley's 34-20 advantage included 12 offensive caroms.

Tyler Brown was the only Hornet in double figures with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Valley outshot Turner from the field but lost it at the line. The Golden Bears were 11 of 16 while the Hornets hit just four of six.

"I talked to them before the game that we got to be positive with one another, we got to motivate one another as athletes and teammates," Wetig said. "Actually, I saw the opposite tonight. I saw guys getting on each other a little bit instead of picking each other up. I thought that took away from our team concept a little bit."

Valley Center 65, Ulysses 44

Valley Center

N. Brown 1-1 1-2 2-2 7, Barbour 0-0 0-1 3-4 3, T. Brown 3-5 3-6 0-0 15, Johnston 1-1 2-5 2-2 9, Crager 0-0 2-9 1-2 5, Wetig 0-0 0-0 0-1 0, Lee 4-6 2-4 2-3 18, Claussen 0-0 1-4 1-2 3, White 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Garcia 0-0 1-1 0-0 2, Haden 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Shockley 0-0 1-2 1-2 2. Totals 9-14 13-34 12-18 65.

Ulysses

Rodriguez 01- 3-4 3-6 9, F. Romero 0-0 0-2 0-5 0, Zerr 1-3 4-5 2-2 13, Ballesteros 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Borthwick 1-3 0-2 0-0 3, Heredia 1-2 4-7 0-1 11, A. Romero 0-2 1-2 0-0 2, Pauda 0-0 3-6 0-0 6, Sifuentes 0-0 0-4 0-0 0, Alvardo 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Bankes 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 3-14 15-34 5-14 44.

Maize South 78, Valley Center 36

Maize South

Domnick 1-1 1-2 4-4 9, Koster 0-2 5-7 0-2 10, Ricks 1-2 7-11 4-5 21, Kordonowy 0-1 6-6 0-0 12, Martin0-0 4-9 11-12 19, Veenis 0-1 0-0 1-2 1. Jennings 0-0 0-1 1-4 1, Mormando 0-0 0-2 0-0 0, Lee 0-0 0-2 2-3 2, Reichenberger 0-0 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 2-7 24-42 24-36 78.

Kansas City Turner 55, Valley Center 52

Valley Center

N. Brown 0-0 3-5 1-2 7, Barbour 3-6 0-2 0-1 9, T. Brown 4-5 2-6 1-1 17. Garcia 1-3 1-3 0-0 5, Crager 0-0 2-4 0-0 4, Lee 0-3 0-0 0-0 0, Claussen 0-0 2-3 2-2 6, White 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Johnston 0-1 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 8-18 12-35 4-6 52.

Kansas City Turner

Davidson 0-0 1-1 0-0 2, Miller 1-2 3-11 2-5 11, Jackson 2-3 5-6 3-3 19, Thomas 0-0 3-8 2-2 8, Poe III 0-1 2-2 1-1 5, Rivera 1-5 0-0 3-4 6, Ray 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Guess 0-0 2-4 0-1 4, Prosser 0-1 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 4-12 16-33 11-16 55.

First round

No. 5 Wichita Northwest 63, No. 4 Garden City 60

Leading 51-43 in the fourth quarter, Northwest held on for the win. Seven straight points from Jared Koster pulled the Buffaloes to within 51-50. The Grizzlies countered with a 9-1 run to clinch the victory. Koster led all scorers with 21, while Nick Williams had 20 for Northwest.

No. 8 Kansas City Turner 54, No. 1 Olathe Northwest 52

Trailing 40-32 after three quarters, Olathe tied the game at 45 before the Golden Bears hit six straight free throws. The Ravens rallied to within 53-52 with 42.4 seconds left but no closer. Darnell Miller scored 19 points for Turner, while Devin Anctil had 13 for Olathe.

No. 3 Maize South 56,

No. 6 Seaman 53

Maize South led nearly all of the game, pulling out to a 46-35 advantage in the fourth quarter. Seaman's Joe Miller scored 12 of his tournament-high 33 points in the final quarter, as the Vikings crept to within two, 49-47, with less than a minute to play. South hit seven of eight free throws to ice the win. Three Mavs hit for double figures, led by Payten Ricks with 16 points, 12 in the fourth quarter.

Semifinal round

Seaman 63, Ulysses 47

Seaman scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back. Thanks to five treys, Ulysses cut the deficit to 30-29 early in the third quarter. The Vikings pulled away from there, outscoring the Tigers 33-18 the rest of the game. Joe Miller led a trio of Vikings in double figures with 15. Tregg Rodriquez scored 13 points for Ulysses.

Olathe Northwest 48, Garden City 44 OT

Deadlocked 38-all at the end of regulation, Garden City took a 44-40 lead with less than two minutes to play in overtime. A 3-pointer by Evan Reid pulled Olathe to within one, and a basket inside by Devin Anctil put the Ravens in front to stay, 45-44. Reid scored 13 and Anctil 12 to lead Olathe. Garden City's Jared Koster led everyone with 19 points, and Caleb Tramp added 16.

Wichita Northwest 63, Kansas City Turner 54

Turner jumped out to a 15-2 lead before the Grizzlies clawed their way back. Down two in the third quarter, Northwest took its first lead of the game at 34-33 but trailed 45-42 at the end of the quarter. The Grizzlies scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter and pulled away for the win. K'veion Richard scored 17 points for Northwest. Geron Thomas had 14 for the Golden Bears.

Final round

Seventh place: Garden City 56, Ulysses 37

Caleb Tramp scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the first three quarters, as Garden City led by 15 going into the final quarter. Tregg Rodriquez tossed in 18 points for the Tigers, who were the No. 2 seed.

Fifth place: Olathe Northwest 51, Seaman 41

Tied after three quarters, Northwest outscored Seaman 22-12 in the fourth quarter. The Ravens, who entered the tournament as the top seed, were a perfect 12 for 12 from the line in the fourth quarter. Olathe's Devin Anctil and Seaman's Reid Morgart tied for game-scoring honors with 13 points each. The Vikings played without tournament MVP Joe Miller, who was out with an ankle injury.

Tournament standings

1. Maize South, 2. Wichita Northwest, 3. Kansas City Turner, 4. Valley Center, 5. Olathe Northwest, 6. Topeka Seaman, 7. Garden City, 8. Ulysses.

Most Valuable Player

Joe Miller, Topeka Seaman

All-tournament

First team: K'Veion Richard, Wichita Northwest; Payten Ricks, Maize South; Jared Koster, Garden City; Joe Miller, Topeka Seaman; Darnell Miller, Kansas City Turner.

Second team: Alex Martin, Maize South; Nick Williams, Wichita Northwest; Caleb Tramp, Garden City; Devin Anctil, Olathe Northwest; Cole Koster, Maize South.

Contest winners

Free throw: 1. Carson Lee, Valley Center; 2. K'veion Richard, Wichita NW; 3. Greg Nielson, Olathe NW.

Hot shot: 1. Jose Acosta, Garden City; 2. Nate Brown, Valley Center; 3. Luke Waters, Olathe NW.

Three point: 1. Jace Kline, Olathe NW; 2. Tyler Brown, Valley Center; 3. Miguel Olivas, Garden City.

Slam dunk: 1. Caleb Tramp, Garden City; 2. Zach White, Valley Center; 3. Kade Kordonowy, Maize South.