Granite's team play bests Valley in tourney opener

HAMILTON – The Granite Prospectors weathered an early scoring flurry from the Valley Christian Eagles to win their opener in the District 13C Basketball Tournament 59-44 Saturday in Hamilton.

The victory puts them into a Winner’s Bracket semifinal Friday against No. 1 seed Darby at 2 p.m.. The Tigers received a first-round bye and did not play Thursday.

The Eagles burst from the gate after the opening tip, with Zeke Glidewell hitting a trio of three pointers from well behind the line. The Prospectors paced them through the midway point of the period before the defense took over and the offense found full speed, leading 23-16.

Throughout the period Granite’s top scorer, Andrew Tallon, was closely guarded and held to a pair of three-pointers. But the senior guard made the adjustment, dishing four of his game-high five assists in the period to give his team the seven-point margin.

“They came out really hot,” said GHS Head Coach Mindy Avila. “I got a little worried, but once we hit that first shot I knew we’d be OK.”

Avila noted Tallon’s adjustment and that she had been after her post players to contribute more in the paint.

“Andrew can’t carry the whole team on his back,” continued Avila. “We know that. So we showed them something a little different.”

When the second period opened, Tallon and 8th grader Jake Dauenhauer hit a pair of threes to get the Prospectors off to a fast start that ballooned their lead to 36-18 with 5:24 to play. The only two points the Eagles managed came on free throws by Solomon Lorenz and Nick Karvandi. When the buzzer sounded for halftime, Granite held a commanding 44-26 advantage.

Cavan Babbitt finished as the Prospectors’ high scorer with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Eric Pitcher added 12 points and eight rebounds, Tallon 11 and Cayhel White 10. Dauenhauer rounded out the scoring with nine.

Glidewell was the only double figure scorer for Valley, hitting six three pointers for 18.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s game against the Tigers, Avila’s main concern was about center Hooper Reed.

“We have to find a way to stop him,” she said. “He’s very good and we may have to try and double-team him or something. We want to make the rest of their team beat us.

SCORING

Valley Christian – 16/10/11/7 – 44

Granite – 23/21/9/6 – 59

Valley Christian – CGlidewell 8, EGlidewell 18, Fisher 4, McKethan 3, Stoltgzfuss 9, Lorenz 1, Hoaglin 1, Karvandi 1

Granite – Pitcher 12, Tallon 11, Babbitt 17, White 10, Jake Dauenhauer 9