Boys' basketball: Mountain Valley cuts Spruce Mountain loose in OT

JAY — Mountain Valley junior forward Keegan Davis didn’t get rattled whenever he drove to the basket and into stiff resistance from Spruce Mountain’s defense.

But Davis’ composure served him well and inspired his Falcons in overtime. Mountain Valley took advantage of few key turnovers and escaped with 71-64 victory in a Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball before a packed crowd at the Phoenix Dome on Tuesday night.

Davis deposited the game-high 27 points and went 7-for-7 at the free-throw line. He also threw in the final two foul shots to seal the Phoenix’s fate on Senior Night.

“Yeah, well it is easy when your teammates are getting you open and getting you good looks,” Davis said. “We all made sure to keep each other up (in overtime), especially the captains. We like keeping each other up.

“Obviously, there is a little bit of nerves, but you have to keep your cool…They are a good team. They are always tough to play.”

“Keegan Davis, he’s a junior and a leader on the offensive end and played out of his mind tonight, “Mountain Valley coach Thomas Danylik said. “He attacked from the foul line down and got to the rim, passed the ball well and had five assists. He did it all for us.”

Both teams turned in strong performances and traded basket for basket in the fourth quarter, with the final stanza ending in a 59-59 tie. Kayle Stewart’s (17 points) three 3-pointers helped the Phoenix keep up with the Falcons.

At one point, the Phoenix led 56-51 with 5:31 before the Falcons inched back with the help of Davis’ six points But when junior forward Andrew Shaw’s (13 points) jumper didn’t fall through the net with 3.9 seconds left, the game went into overtime.

In overtime, the Phoenix took the lead when Mason Shink (seven points) sank two free-throws with 3:03 left. But that’s when Davis went to town on the Phoenix, scoring four straight points to give Mountain Valley a 65-61 lead.

“They run that flex and they run it real, real well,” Danylik said. “We got to a situation when we had three minutes left and we knew they were going to do that — tie ball game or close to it.

“We waited on a chance to make a play on it. I had a couple of kids make some really big defensive plays in the end. We debated on whether to do something different. Sometimes, it comes down to kids making plays at the end of the game.”

Senior guard Brett Frey (team-high 18 points) landed one of his four 3-pointers to move Spruce to within a point.

But Mountain Valley junior forward Cam Godbois (21 points) scored on a drive and then hit a pair of foul shots. Davis followed with another pair of foul shots that helped hand the Phoenix another heartbreaker.

“Yeah, we are used to it,” Spruce Mountain coach Scott Bessey said. “Yeah, that’s two games in a row that have been heartbreakers, The difference with this one is I thought we played well the whole game against a good team. it was a good battle.

“We had a shot to win it at the end, but it was a tough shot. We had critical turnovers down the stretch in overtime. I thought that killed us.

“They are a really good team. They are in the middle of the pack in B South. You don’t have expectations of hanging with them. We expected to win and we are extremely, extremely disappointed that we didn’t.”

Spruce Mountain’s Tate Walton and Mountain Valley’s Keegan Davis (24) battle for the ball in the first half of a Mountain Valley Conference basketball game at the Phoenix Dome on Tuesday night.

Spruce Mountain’s Jordan Daigle (12) drives to the basket as Mountain Valley’s William Bean (15) and William Sorensen (5) try to intervene in the first half of a Mountain Valley Conference basketball game at the Phoenix Dome on Tuesday night.

Spruce Mountain’s Brandon Frey (30) tries to get past Mountain Valley’s Cam Godbois (21) in a Mountain Valley Conference basketball game at the Phoenix Dome on Tuesday night.Spruce Mountain’s Kayle Stewart (15) as Mountain Valley’s Keegan Davis (24) and William Bean (15) tries to stop Stewart in a Mountain Valley Conference basketball game at the Phoenix Dome on Tuesday night.

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