Tri-Valley Defeats Tuxedo 73-62

TRI-VALLEY DEFEATS TUXEDO   

                                                  

  Driving layups by Tri-Valley's Shatik Smith and the three-point shooting accuracy of Jesus Lozada proved to be the deciding factors Wednesday night at Grahamsville as the Bears defeated Tuxedo 73-62.

  For Tri-Valley the win was especially sweet as they also celebrated Senior's night introducing seniors Rodney T. Jester, Cody Exner, Shatik Smith, James Pugh and Gavin DuBois. The five presented roses to their parents in ceremonies at mid-court. 

  Scoring for both teams was fairly even in the first quarter of play with Tuxedo going up by two points 6-4 with 4:40 left on the clock but sharp three-point shooting by Cody Exner put the Bears up in this quarter 22-16.

  Three point scoring for the Bears in the first quarter included one by Jester, two by Exner, one by Lozada, two two pointers by Smith and two points by DuBois. 

  Exner continued his three point accuracy in the second quarter adding two more treys while Smith added three points and Devin Donnelly two points as Tri-Valley outscored Tuxedo 12-11. Jack Espel added seven points to the board for Tuxedo as the Bears took a slim 34-30 leads at half time. 

  Tri-Valley outscored Tuxedo 13-12 in the third quarter off individual scoring efforts by Lozada with nine points including one three-pointer and Smith with four points to take a 47-42 lead entering the final eight minutes of play.

  The fourth quarter then turned into the Smith and Lazada show with Smith scoring six points on driving layups, Lazada pumping in two three-pointers and a field goal for eight points and the Bears outscoring Tuxedo 26-20.

  Tuxedo's Blake Tisdale kept the game from being a run away by scoring eight points in the fourth quarter. 

  Tri-Valley Coach Brian Tingley following the game said, "we got key buckets at key moments and our speed won for us tonight."

  Tuxedo Coach Marco Margotta in commenting on the smaller size court at Tuxedo said, "I don't make any changes when we play on a regulation size court like this but their speed proved to be too much for us tonight."

  Smith with 21 points led the Bears scoring with Lozada adding 20 and Exner 14. The win gives Tri-Valley an overall record of 9-3 and a 5-2 record in OCIAA Division V play.

  Tisdale scored 22 points to lead Tuxedo with Espel adding 20 points. Tuxedo drops to 5-12 overall and 0-7 in league play. 

                                                      

PHOTO IDENTIFICATION 

                                                      

Tri-Valley's Shatik Smith scores two of his team leading 21 points in the Bears 73-62 win over Tuxedo Wednesday night in Grahamsville.