TRI-VALLEY WINS AT THE BUZZER

 BARN-BURNER AT GRAHAMSVILLE

    GRAHAMSVILLE--It was Tri-Valley vs. Fallsburg basketball deja vu (already seen)  all over again Friday night December 21 when what looked like an easy victory for the Bears turned into a barn burner and an early Christmas miracle gift victory for Tri-Valley.

  With some 11 seconds left on the fourth quarter clock and the Comets leading by four points Tri-Valley brought the ball down court and following several quick passes and a scant six seconds left Tri-Valley senior forward Rodney Jester drained a three-pointer from the right corner.

  With several seconds left a Fallsburg inbound pass was intercepted by Tri-Valley's James Pugh who got the ball to Shatic Smith but Smith's three-point attempt missed and the Bears Alex Smith grabbed the missed shot off the board and banged it in at the buzzer for a 73-72 Tri-Valley victory. 

  The win brought back memories of another last second three pointer by Tri-Valley in 2010 at Fallsburg when with several seconds left on the clock and Fallsburg leading by two points now graduated senior Dean Winters sank an almost half-court shot for a one-point Bears win. 

  In the December 21 game Fallsburg took an 18-15 first quarter lead but Tri-Valley stormed back in the second quarter outscoring the Comets 22-7 to take a 12-point  half time lead of 37-25.

  The Fallsburg Tri-Valley rivalry heated up in the third quarter with a tighter defense by Fallsburg as they outscored the Bears 22-15 to cut Tri-Valley's lead down to 7 points, 52-47. 

  Fallsburg kept chipping away at the lead in the fourth quarter and at times overtook the Bears to post between a 4 to 6 point advantage. 

  Excellent foul shooting and almost easy in the paint layups helped Fallsburg throughout the fourth quarter as they outscored Tri-Valley 25-21.

  Fallsburg fans started hooping it up with their 4-point lead and 11 seconds left on the clock but Jestrer's  three-pointer coupled with the turnover and Brown's putback at the buzzer brought jubilation to the Bears fans as Tri-Valley's players piled on Brown at half court. 

  Fans from both teams commented after the game that both teams could be proud of themselves and that this was one of the best high school basketball games they have ever been a part of. 

  The game was a regular league game for both teams competing in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Division V. The win pushed Tri-Valley's win streak to 5-0 and 2-0 in league play.

  Leading the scoring for Tri-Valley was Jesus Lozada with 19, James Pugh 18 and Alex Brown with 15.

  Rakkir Watson had 25 points for Fallsburg and Nick Pinder with 19. Jarrett Madison added 11 .

                                          

                                   

 IDENTIFICATION OF ATTACHED PHOTOS

Tri-Valley's No. 11 Alex Brown goes up for 2 of his 19 points including the game winning putback at the buzzer in the Bears 73-72 victory over Fallsburg December 21.                                       -

Fallsburg's No. 14 Nick Pinder scores 2 of his 19 points in the Comets 73-72 loss to Tri-Valley December 21.