As the regular season begins to unwind, the post season gets started. Games become even more important as players fight to make it to state. Losses become detrimental and wins allow teams to continue their seasons.
The Pleasant Valley boys basketball team competed against Davenport Central on Friday, Feb. 28 on Central’s home court. The game had high energy and lots of fouls.
The game began with Central winning the tip off. Central was unlucky with their first offensive attempt and it ended with a rebound by Jacob Townsend. Central had the first foul of the game against Ryan Dolphin. Dolphin finished both free throws to start the lead for PV.
By the end of the first quarter, PV lead with seven fouls to Central’s two; Townsend had two of the seven. However, PV also was leading with points, ending the quarter 14-8.
With five minutes still remaining in the second quarter, PV was already in the bonus for fouls, sending Central to the free throw line often.
Senior Jack Donahue described a change made in the second quarter. “We did switch to a zone defense that stalled their offense and helped us win,” he said.
Their zone defense was successful slowing down Central’s offense; however, it brought about more fouls from PV. With two minutes remaining in the first half, they were already in double bonus. With the additional free throws coming from Central, they had a slight come back.
The PV boys used this to further motivate themselves and quickly ended Central’s short spurt. They finished the half up by 12 with the score 31-19.
The second half once again started with a PV score — this time by senior Carter Cline with a two-pointer.
The second half was not slow to pick back up the pace. Joey Borbeck soon managed to receive a technical foul, sending Central to the freethrow line. Luckily, they only made one of their free throws.
Cline winded up with his fourth foul with a little over a minute remaining in the third quarter. As the number of fouls rose, so did tensions. They escalated a little too quickly — as players became a bit aggressive outside of the game of basketball — but refs were quick to split up any sort of altercations before anything bad could happen.
The third quarter ended with a decreased lead by PV of 41-32. Both teams had eight fouls.
Once again, Dolphin scored to start the last quarter of the game. Both teams were in double bonus before the four minute mark.
Donahue spoke on the amount of fouls committed during the game. “A few of our key players got into foul trouble so we had to adapt to that as well,” he discussed.
It’s true that PV had some valuable players get less playing time than usual due to their amount of fouls, but they refused to waver. Their lead was not shaken, even with injury.
Near the end of the fourth quarter, Matt Mickle suffered a pretty tough foul where he was jabbed in the eye. He was sent to the free throw line and had no problem finishing both with ease.
The Spartans pulled through with the win that night. The final score of the game being 59-47, the boys will move forward to play another game this season.
Townsend looked back at the game and how important it was to the team. “It was our biggest win of the season,” he said. “Most fun I have had all year.”
The boys team had their success due to their ability to finish shots and their urgency. The Pleasant Valley community — especially the student section — are supporting the team through the rest of the season. Hopefully, this season continues all the way through to state.
