DURANGO TOURNEY: Valley overcomes shaky start to win

Four minutes into the game Monday it looked as though Valley might struggle to end up with more points than turnovers.

The Vikings had turned the ball over four times in four minutes, and the trend continued throughout the first quarter as Silverado turned eight Vikings turnovers into 11 points to take a 15-12 lead.

But Valley took better care of the ball, committing just five turnovers in the next two periods, on the way to a 74-60 victory over the

Skyhawks in the Amare Stoudemire Each 1 Teach 1 National Invitational at Durango.

“Our kids just needed to focus up a little bit,” Valley coach Brian Farnsworth said. “We expend a lot of energy on defense, and sometimes that hurts us on offense.

“I expect more out of them, and they expect more out of themselves.”

Valley plays Denver East in the semifinals of the Amare Stoudemire bracket at 6:30 p.m. today.

The Vikings did a good job defensively, forcing eight Silverado turnovers in the first quarter, but were unable to take advantage early on because of their own miscues.

Once they settled in, that defense turned into points as the Vikings scored 14 off turnovers in the next two quarters.

“A lot of it was our pressure defense,” Farnsworth said. “If you play good defense and force some turnovers, you don’t have to run much offense. Our kids kind of thrive off that. We got a little momentum going, and we never let it go.”

Christian Kessee led Valley with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

“He’s a great spot-up shooter, and he’s a really smart basketball player. He chooses good shots,” Farnsworth said.

Khristian Kirkwood, the Vikings’ leading scorer, added 10 points and five assists.

“He was solid for us,” Farnsworth said. “He didn’t have to score a lot, and he’s OK with that. The kid wants to win.”

“We’re a multi-faceted team. We have five or six kids that could be our leading scorer any night, and we just have to find who the hot hand is and keep going to them.”

Durango 68, Chaparral 59 — Freshman Tre’Von Wells had 20 points to lead the Trailblazers past the Cowboys.

Greg Gentry scored 18 points and Donovan Williams added 17 for Durango, which led 20-8 after the first quarter.

Andre Wright, Devonte’ White and Zachary Kirschbaum each tallied 11 points for Chaparral.

Green Valley 67, Northwood (La.) 62 — Austin Tebbs had nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Gators rallied for the win.

Deandre Kambala scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Green Valley, which trailed 49-39 entering the final period.

Durrell McDonald added 13 points for the Gators.

Centennial 66, Carson (Calif.) 41 — Aaseem Dixon had 16 points, and the Bulldogs jumped out to a 43-18 halftime lead en route to the easy win.

Ben Vozzola added 10 points for Centennial, which netted 23-for-25 from the free-throw line.

Mojave 60, McQueen 45 — Marques Strickland had 24 points to lead the Rattlers past the Lancers.

Royale Jackson added 15 points Mojave, which finished 23-for-43 from the foul line.

McQueen only attempted four free throws and was outscored 35-14 in the second half.

Palo Verde 75, Dorsey (Calif.) 59 — Moses Morgan had 23 points and 13 rebounds as the Panthers defeated the Dons.

Andrew Topham added 17 points and eight rebounds for Palo Verde.

Cheyenne 73, Pacific Hills (Calif.) 57 — Chris McCall had 16 points to lead three Cheyenne players in double figures to a win over the Bruins.

J’Quon Wroten added 14 points and Brian Organ scored 13 for Cheyenne.

Denver East 57, Canyon Springs 55 — Uriah Carter hit two free throws with 0.7 seconds to go in overtime as the Angels edged the Pioneers.

Canyon Springs held the ball against Denver East’s zone for much of the overtime period and missed its only field goal attempt.

The Pioneers had the ball with less than 10 seconds to play, but Michael Thompson was called for traveling, giving the ball back to the Angels with 5.9 seconds left.

Carter was fouled driving toward the basket and made both free throws for the win.

Phillip Watts had 13 points and Carter 11 to lead Denver East.

Thompson led Canyon Springs with 21 points and seven rebounds. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play with 22.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 55.

Francis Parker (Ariz.) 68, Basic 61 — Francis Parker went 8-for-10 from the foul line in overtime to down the Wolves.

Basic led down the stretch, but Francis Parker tied the game on a fast-break basket by Dalante Dunklin with 52 seconds left in regulation.

Tyler Dobbins had 24 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead Basic, which also picked up six rebounds from Dobbins. Vince Carducci added 15 points for the Wolves

Lynwood (Calif.) 73, Rancho 62 — The Rams turned the ball over nine times in the third quarter and 32 times in the game in a loss to Lynwood.

The game was tied at 31 at the half, but Lynwood outscored Rancho 25-11 in the third quarter.

Raymond Alexander had 18 points to lead the Knights. David Hall added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Amir Royal led Rancho with 17 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Gaston added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams.

Fairfax (Calif.) 80, Liberty 54 — Fairfax outscored the Patriots 41-16 in the middle quarters to take control.

Thomas Lauguico led Liberty with 18 points. Tim Rambo scored 13 for the Patriots.

Georgetown Prep (Md.) 78, Las Vegas 63 — Markel Starks hit seven 3-pointers and scored 37 points to lead the Hoyas.

Tyree Anderson scored 17 and Hasaan Henderson added 16 for Las Vegas.

Inglewood (Calif.) 54, Shadow Ridge 46 — Joseff Singleton had 21 points to lead the Sentinels past the Mustangs.

Inglewood used a 15-4 third quarter to take control.

Zach Hafen led Shadow Ridge with 12 points.