Valor Vanquishes Longmont with 30 Point 4th Quarter

After Longmont out scored Valor 15-6 in the second quarter holding a 26-16 lead at halftime and senior guard Justinian Jessup had scored 17 of the Trojans first half 26 points, it appeared that Longmont was on the verge of a second straight finals appearance. But it was not to be, Valor emerged victorious after a wild 30 point quarter and a defensive effort that held Jessup to just five points in the second half.

Valor Christian junior Kayle Knuckles was vital for the Eagles on Friday night. Kunckles was efficient in the post and a rebounding machine. His 10 points kept the Eagles in the game in the first half and was the lone bright spot for Valor in the first half.  The Valor offense struggled most of the night against the Longmont zones and man to man defenses. In fact only Knuckles and a fellow junior Jalen Sanders had scored in the third period and all of those point  were hard fought points in the paint or came from the free throw line.

With Longmont leading 40-28 at the beginning of the 4th quarter Valor extended it own zone defense. Taking the ball out of Jessup’s hands and making other Trojans handle the ball, forcing the Trojans to handle the ball and make contested shots in the paint.  Valor then started hitting three pointers keying the dramatic run. The Eagles hit five of nine three pointers in the quarter three coming from sophomore guard Jeremy Randle and the other two coming from Knuckles and Sanders.  Meanwhile the Trojans attempted to take time off the clock and stopped attacking the basket. After shooting 8 of 10 from the free throw line in the first half the Trojans shot a woeful 4 of 13 from the stripe in second. Which turned out to be the difference in the game with Valor taking the victory in the final minute 58-53.