Metea Valley gets fifth win in a row
A tight game against Waubonsie Valley went in Metea Valley’s favor this time around.
After falling to the Warriors 62-61 on a Brandon Malby buzzer-beater last January, the Mustangs were in a similar position Saturday evening, again inside their opponent’s gym.
Metea Valley held a 49-48 lead with 10 seconds to go, but Waubonsie Valley held possession. Coming out of a timeout, the Warriors had three good looks at the basket after an inbounds play. Bryan Jefferson missed on a baseline jumper, Jared Brownridge was unable to connect on the rebound tip-in and Matt Gialamas’ short jumper in the lane was off target as the buzzer sounded, sealing Metea Valley’s 49-48 victory.
“Those last 10 seconds lasted like two minutes,” Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza said. “That’s the way a high school game should end with 10 people on the floor scrambling.”
The win was the Mustangs’ fifth in a row, while Waubonsie Valley fell to 6-4 on the year (2-3 in the Upstate Eight Valley).
“We had three offensive rebounds and we played hard in that last possession, but we just couldn’t get the ball to fall,” Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer said. “We didn’t lose the game because we didn’t score there. Our guys have to understand that we have a small margin for error and we’ve got to play every possession like we did the last one.”
The Mustangs (6-4, 4-1) took a 7-4 lead in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Sean Davis and never let the Warriors overtake them the rest of the game.
The closest Waubonsie Valley got was a 37-37 tie on a turnaround lay-in by Bryan Jefferson with 6:40 to go in the game.
The Warriors were down by one on four occasions in the final six minutes, including twice in the final 38 seconds.
When Metea Valley’s Bryson Oliver connected on a basket underneath with 45 seconds left, he gave the Mustangs a 47-43 lead, but the Warriors weren’t finished.
Waubonsie Valley’s Jay Dehaan followed with a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left that cut the Metea Valley lead to 47-46.
Vin Patel then put the Mustangs up 49-46 with a pair of free throws.
On the ensuing possession Brownridge sliced through the lane with a layup and foul, cutting the deficit to 49-48. He missed the free throw, grabbed his own rebound and tried a putback but was blocked out of bounds by Metea Valley’s Hayden Barnard with 16 seconds left.
The Warriors eventually let the clock run down another six seconds before calling timeout and setting up the final play.