Sweet Revenge Valley Boys’ Hoops Beats HK 60-47

Photo by Jess Smith/Valley Courier

Sean Cunningham (left) played a pivotal role in helping the Warriors' boys' basketball squad seek revenge against Shoreline Conference foe Haddam-Killingworth on Feb. 17.

Buy Photo

With only a couple of contests left in the regular season and the top spot in the Shoreline Conference up for grabs, the Valley Regional boys' basketball squad hosted Haddam-Killingworth on the night of Feb. 17, knowing it had to win this game-not only to up its chances for conference supremacy, but to enact a bit of revenge from when the Warriors lost to the Cougars last month. With Valley and HK-along with Cromwell and Coginchaug-fighting for first place with only two regular-season games left, the Warriors won an important one against the Cougars, 60-47, backed by juniors Chris Connor (14 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds) and Jonathan Luster (13 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds).

"It was a huge game and we had to answer coming off a loss to Cromwell and a poor performance [versus Morgan] and we needed a good response and we got it against a good team, a team we had lost to earlier in the season," said Coach Kevin Woods. "We mixed it up and made some changes and we did a good job taking away their size advantage so it was a great response for us considering the past two games we had."

The Warriors (14-4) got off to a quick start and jumped up 10-2 off baskets from Sean Cunningham (4 points), captain Mason King (2 points), and Connor (2 points). HK captain Wes Nuhn (9 points) snuck around the Valley defense for two points before Cunningham's pressure defense and swift passing allowed Chris Polo to notch two. HK (14-4) then gave up its first of three turnovers in the quarter, giving Connor the ball and two points. HK captain Erik Carlson (19 points) earned two before the Cougars turned over their second possession to King under their basket, leading to Polo's four straight points. Carlson notched another two for HK before Valley's Ryan Pomroy forced another HK turnover at the end of the first with Valley leading 14-6.

"We wanted to start playing well early and we got off to a good start so that was a good thing because if we didn't it would've made it harder and they would've gotten confidence and stayed in the game," said Luster, a captain. "So it was good to get off to that good start and I'd say it started from our defense because we created a lot of turnovers and that led to easy hoops and I think that's how we kept them from coming back into this game."

HK came out fighting hard in the second and closed the gap, but not before Valley's Connor notched four points and Luster hit the first three-pointer of the night. Colin O'Brien notched three points for the Cougars and Trevor Phelan showcased some skillful dribbling, making his way around the Warriors' stifling defense for two points. Valley gave away its first possession of the night, and after Connor blocked an attempted Cougar shot, O'Brien earned two points from the charity stripe. After exchanging turnovers, both squads saw fancy footwork and dribbling with HK earning points from Phelan (2) and Carlson (5) and Valley seeing baskets from Luster (5), Kyle Smith (4), and Connor (3). The opponents filed into the locker rooms at halftime with Valley leading 34-20.

The Warriors continued their air-tight defense and dominating offense in the second half, never allowing the Cougars to get too close and the third quarter was a good example of that. O'Brien led off the third strong for HK, blocking a Valley shot and then earning a foul call and notching a free-throw point. This was followed by Cunningham's fancy around-the-back lay-up for two points and Carlson's long three-pointer that sent the visiting crowd into a frenzy. Valley's Polo then shot two from the arc, and after Phelan logged a point from the free-throw line for HK, the Cougars handed over yet another ball to the Warriors under their basket. The remainder of the period saw HK fight to get within close range with points from Nuhn (4) and Thomas Day (2), but it was Valley's offense of Pomroy (2 points) and Cunningham (3)-as well as another Cougar turnover-that allowed Valley to hold a 43-31 advantage at the end of three.

"We turned the ball over too much, which got us into some trouble where they made some runs, but I give the kids credit-we kept our composure tonight and made baskets when we needed them," said Woods. "We had some really big shots and they were all spread out throughout the game and there's no single one I can remember, but [HK] got the game down to five or six and Ryan Pomroy hit a big three-he didn't have a huge night of scoring, but it's contributions like that are huge."

A fourth-quarter battle ensued for both teams as the Cougars started off the last period solid offensively with Nuhn earning a foul call under the basket and notching a free point before forcing a Valley turnover that turned into two points for Carlson and another free-throw point. Connor made the home crowd crazy with a long three-pointer from the corner, followed by four points from Luster and another two from Connor. HK had baskets from Day (4), Carlson (4), Phelan (2), O'Brien (2), and Nuhn (2) in the effort to cut the lead, but Valley's offense continued to pressure and Polo (2 points) and Luster (4 points) piled on the points to give the Warriors the 60-47 victory.

"I think the key is just for us to win out," said Woods. "We win out, we may not be the one-seed, but we control where we play-we'd get two home games as the two-seed and that's huge."

Said Smith, who is a captain: "This was a huge win for us to get, bouncing back from a tough loss to Cromwell. And just showing that we can play with one of the good teams in this conference and that we're one of the lead teams. It's a good win for us. It was good to get them back."