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LOWER GWYNEDD – Eddie Valentine figures he takes around 100 shots every day.
Practice apparently makes perfect.
The Harry S. Truman senior was launching shots from all over the court in Monday’s opening round game of the Wissahickon Holiday Tournament against Central Bucks East. Take away a second quarter when he went scoreless, and Valentine was unstoppable.
The Tigers’ shooting guard with the soft touch buried five treys. He also worked his magic in the paint, scoring on an assortment of drives, floaters and off-balance shots en route to a career 39 points.
It was Valentine’s 24-point second-half effort that allowed the Tigers to rally from a 17-point deficit to notch a remarkable 78-71 win over the Patriots, earning a spot in Tuesday’s title game against Wissahickon.
“I just get into a zone,” Valentine said. “I just feel it. As soon as it leaves my hand, I just know it’s going to go in. It’s just hard work. I practice my shots all the time.”
Valentine’s eyes widened when he was told he had scored 39 points.
“I didn’t know I had 39,” he said. “I knew we were winning, and that’s all that mattered.”
Winning seemed improbable at best for the Tigers when the Patriots – after a three-point play by David Kiersnowski – went on top 47-30 at the 6:28 mark of the third quarter.
But the never-say-die Tigers closed out the third quarter with a dazzling 25-8 run that impressed even their coach.
“I’m extremely proud of the fight they showed in the last four games,” coach Alan Munford said of his team’s four-game winning streak. “They showed fight against Council Rock South, and then they did it against Council Rock.
“They did it against Cherry Hill East, and they did it tonight.”
The Tigers rallied from 16 down in the first half to defeat Cherry Hill East. They topped that in Monday’s contest against an East squad that received a pair of stellar performances of its own.
Kiersnowski scored a team-high 28 points while center Skylar Scrivano contributed 19 points and 18 rebounds in a standout effort in the paint.
“We are very young, very inexperienced,” said assistant coach Pete Posavec, filling in for Chris Huber, who is on a leave of absence for personal reasons. “We have two guys (Kiersnowski and Scrivano) that played varsity basketball. Everyone else played jayvee, and it showed. We’re doing the best we can.”
The Patriots’ best was more than good enough in a first half they dominated. The Patriots led 19-12 after Kiersnowski finished off a fast break off a Truman miss with a three-point play.
They still led 21-17 at the end of one quarter – Kiersnowski had 13 of East’s points while Valentine accounted for 15 of his team’s 17 points.
A fast break bucket by Kiersnowski put the Patriots on top 27-17, and when D.J. Beausejour (13 points) turned a Liam Gallagher steal into a three-point play, the Patriots led 30-17.
“We were able to get a few runs out there off their press,” Scrivano said. “Their press was causing turnovers, but we also were able to score some transition buckets. “We were working hard on the boards, and we were able to get a lot of putbacks in the first half.”
The Patriots took a 38-28 lead into halftime.
“We were sleepwalking,” Munford said. “We weren’t playing our game. We didn’t wake up until the second half of the game.
“One thing I told the guys at halftime is we’ve got to stop waiting until things get tragic for us before we start doing our thing. We have to be basketball players from the beginning to the end.”
Things appeared to take a tragic turn for the Tigers when Munford was assessed a technical for questioning a call. Kiersnowski buried both foul shots and then turned a loose ball rebound into a three-point play that put the Patriots on top 47-30.
That apparently was the wake-up call the Tigers needed. They responded with a magnificent 25-8 tear to close out the quarter.
The run began with a Shawn Miller basket. An East turnover resulted in a driving bank shot by Quancine Wilson, and the fun was just starting.
“They took advantage of any weakness getting the ball up the floor,” Scrivano said. “If you were looking to pass it, they were there to intercept the pass. If you were looking to dribble, they had two guys on you ready to take the ball away.”
It was a 52-39 game after Valentine scored on an impossible shot off a screen as he was falling, but Scrivano answered with a three-point play for the Patriots. A Miller bucket was followed by four straight points from Valentine, and just like that, the Tigers had knotted the score (55-55) heading into the final quarter.
“We knew they were going to come after us – it was no big secret,” Posavec said. “We knew we were inexperienced, and with 11 turnovers in the third quarter, I wasn’t surprised. They’re a real good team.”
The Tigers went on top 57-55 after a Miller putback, and after a Patriot miss, Valentine scored off the dribble to give the Tigers a 60-55 lead. Valentine turned a steal into a basket, and the Tigers led by seven.“I’m very happy to have Eddie Valentine on my team,” Munford said. “Eddie is starting to realize if he works hard at practice that it’s going to carry over into game situations. He’s had much better practices, and his game performance shows.
“The sky is the limit for Eddie. His ceiling is extremely high. I truly believe he could be very special, and he’s starting to realize how special he can be. All he needs is confidence.”
Down but not out, the Patriots rallied to knot the score 62-62 after a three-point play by Beausejour. Valentine answered with back-to-back baskets, including a trey, to put Truman on top by five. The Patriots pulled to within three after a Scrivano bucket, but they would get no closer as the Tigers would not be denied.
“I don’t know,” Valentine said. “We just all came together.
“I talked to them in the locker room and let them know they needed to wake up and get over the hump.”
“I’m extremely proud of them – put that in bold print,” Munford added. “They fought through adversity, they continued to scrap and go after it even when they were down.
“That’s something you can’t coach. You can’t coach kids how to scrap or fight on the floor. I’ve certainly tried to instill it, and I’m glad they were able to go out there and get it done.”
Despite the loss, the Patriots – who had not scored more than 53 points in any of their preceding games – showed some positive signs.
“I told them – I’ll take 71 points any day, but the problem is you can’t give up 78 in this league,” Posavec said. “We’re still learning, and hopefully, this will help us as we go down the road.
“We’re trying to teach them on the fly. We play hard. I don’t have any problem with our effort, but we just turned the ball over too many times.”
Scrivano also liked the job his team did under the backboards.
“Against an athletic team like that, it looked like we wouldn’t be able to get a lot done, but when we were going to the boards – it showed a lot of progress since the beginning of the year,” the senior center said. “If we keep that up, we will be a lot better.”
The Tigers (5-2) take a four-game winning streak into Wednesday night’s 6 p.m. title game against Wissahickon. The Patriots (1-4) will face Lansdale Catholic in a consolation game at 2 p.m.
HARRY S. TRUMAN 78, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 71
Harry S. Truman (78) – Shawn Miller 5 4-5 14; Merdic Green 2 0-0 4; Joshua Williams 2 3-5 7; Eddie Valentine 16 2-3 39; Quincy Palmer 0 6-6 6; Tracey Kubish 0 0-0 0; Quancine Wilson 1 0-0 2; Jon Amparo 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 29 15-19 78.
Central Bucks East (71) – Shane Carroll 0 0-0 0; D.J. Beausejour 4 4-6 13; David Kiersnowski 12 4-6 28; Chris Allen 1 0-0 2; Warrn Kuhn 0 1-2 1; Liam Gallagher 0 0-0 0; Scott Shields 2 2-2 6; Tim Hughes 1 0-0 2; Matt Stauffer 0 0-0 0; Skylar Scrivano 8 3-7 19. TOTALS 28 14-23 71
Harry S. Truman 17 4 27 23-78
Central Bucks East 21 17 17 16-71
3-point goals: Truman – Eddie Valentine 5. CB East – D.J. Beausejour.
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