Lundy's layup with 17.6 left lifts Valley to 46-45 win over Portsmouth

1 week ago 2

PORTSMOUTH — There are contests that one just knows will have a different energy about it before the opening tip occurs.

The nonconference contest between the Portsmouth Trojans' and Valley Indians' boys basketball program certainly delivered that heightened energy, as the two programs battled in a contest that had an early March tournament feel to it.

In a competitive contest where neither team led by more than seven points the entire way, Aaron Smith's and Craig Tackett's ballclubs showed why they both will be contending units throughout the season as both teams responded to adversity with pure grit and outstanding team play whether executing in offensive transition, in halfcourt sets or even in situations where 50-50 balls had to be one.

Because of those elements, the contest fittingly proved to be one that took until the final buzzer to decide.

With player after player on both sides seemingly stepping up to make a play, Valley simply was able to find a way to make one more.

Following a big-time three-pointer by Portsmouth freshman Joe Greene with 32.3 seconds left, the Trojans took a 45-44 lead, answering an 8-2 run by the Indians to take the lead late in their home confines at Trojan Arena.

But Blake Lundy had other ideas.

Receiving a pass from Braxten Conaway over to the right wing, Lundy split Portsmouth's effective zone, moved into the lane and launched a layup in the middle of the floor that dropped with 17.6 seconds left, allowing Valley to move to a perfect 6-0 to start the 2025 season as the Indians scored a 46-45 victory over the Trojans Tuesday evening at Trojan Arena in Portsmouth.

For Tackett, the game-ending bucket, and the sequence following where Lundy also successfully defended Daequan Woods' three-point attempt that fell just shy at the buzzer, was just part of a series of plays where the Indians showed major heart in coming back despite trailing by seven points midway through the second quarter and six points early in the third frame.

"I was really excited with our team effort tonight," Tackett said. "I felt like a lot of guys made some big plays in big moments for us. It was the first time that we had faced that much adversity in terms of trailing most of the game, so it was a good test for us. We knew coming in that Portsmouth was a good team and it was going to be a high-energy game here, and we knew that we had our work cut out for us because of the type of team that they are. I'm really proud of the way that we responded, how we continued to fight, and how we didn't hang our heads even after trailing at halftime and at the end of the third quarter. We continued to fight all the way to the buzzer. It was a fight to the buzzer. Nothing was easy."

While the loss was difficult for Smith and understandably so, his disappointment lied more in the result than any effort his players gave. In fact, Smith couldn't have been more pleased with the Trojans' efforts. Portsmouth held leads of 20-13 and 30-24 at one point in the contest as the Trojans' defensive effort, in particular, stood out.

"We followed our gameplan better tonight," Smith said. "We got Valley out of rhythm, and watching them on film, I felt like we didn't allow them to do what they wanted to do. They earned absolutely every point that they got. I'm proud of my guys tonight. This one hurts, but after I watch this game, I'm sure I'll feel better about it knowing how hard we played and how we grew as a team."

Leading the charge for Portsmouth's effort early in the basketball game was none other than Daequan Woods, who has played at an All-Ohio level throughout the first six games of the 2025-26 season.

Woods continued that high-level play Tuesday evening, scoring or assisting on each of Portsmouth's first 12 points and scoring seven first-quarter points on his own. His seven tallies and a transition assist to Logan Adkins helped the Trojans take a 9-8 lead after the opening quarter of play, while fellow senior Connie Thomas hit two big three-point field goals in the second quarter to lift Portsmouth to a 20-13 advantage. Woods finished with 12 points in the contest.

"That's the workhorse," Smith said of Woods. "What a lot of people don't understand is that he's sick. He's been sick. He didn't practice for two days this week. He showed up to play tonight without question. We ask him to do a lot, and he does a lot. Not only that, he does the things we ask him to do with the right mentality and the right mindframe. He's a really good teammate. I'm going to look back on my coaching career and be thankful that I had a guy like Daequan Woods in my program."

Portsmouth carried over its hot shooting from Wheelersburg to the second quarter of its matchup against Valley as well. The Trojans, who hit 10 three-point field goals against Wheelersburg on Saturday, canned six treys against the Indians on Tuesday, including four in the second quarter as Portsmouth took a 26-22 halftime advantage. Logan Adkins, who joined Woods in double-figures with an 11-point outing, also converted an and-one in the quarter and, like Woods, was big in both halves as well.

"Logan has been dealing with so many injuries — the knee that kept him out all last year and just an unfortunate ankle injury that kept him out of the Southern game in the second game this season," Smith said. "He's still bouncing back from that. I'm really proud of Logan also because whatever we ask him to do, like Daequan, he does it with a good attitude and does it with his teammates."

However, showing the signs of the great basketball team that they are, Valley never panicked or relented at any point.

Reserves Isaiah Clark and Elliot Franke, who are high-energy players who have consistently played their roles without complaint of shots or minutes, were critical in the second quarter in shifting the tide as the scrappy play of the duo helped slow Portsmouth's efficiency down offensively.

"Isaiah Clark gave us some great minutes off of the bench," Tackett said. "He got some big rebounds and made some nice defensive plays. He's one of those kids that's always in the right spot. Elliot Franke came in and gave us some things where he gave us some good energy and played well, too."

While those two produced in their complimentary roles, Valley's Jalen Dunham continued to build on what has been a terrific junior season. Dunham, who scored 10 of his game-high 15 points in the opening half of play, hit two big second quarter threes to help the Indians along from a scoring standpoint.

In doing so, the junior overcame what he described as a rough shooting night for himself at the free throw line to produce yet again for Valley — and draw the Indians back from a seven-point deficit to that 26-22 halftime deficit at the break, which was a sign of things that ultimately came later on.

"It was a rough night for me at the free throw line," Dunham said, being honest with himself. "However, I believe we handled adversity really well as a team. It was written on the board pregame, 'Weather the storm,' and that's what we did. We knew that there was going to be a lot of ups and downs, but after halftime, we did exactly what was written on the board and got the win."

Down 30-24 early in the third quarter, Valley's Braxten Conaway then answered the call.

Lighting up the third quarter scoreboard while scoring all nine of his points in the frame, Conaway hit three consecutive shot attempts on his own as part of a 10-0 Valley run that turned the six-point third quarter deficit into a 34-30 lead for the Indians.

"Once Braxten hits a couple, he really gets going," Tackett said. "I think he gets that confidence going once he sees one going through the rim. Once he sees that first one go through, he's able to take a deep breath and play his game. He hit some very big shots."

"The run really bumped us up, I think, and that's a credit to the guys that I play alongside," Conaway said. "We hadn't played in 11 days and with that, we made some mistakes but battled through those. It was a great win. We didn't play our best, but it was a gritty win and we came out on top. That's all that matters."

The remainder of the game saw one player make one big time play after another.

First, Portsmouth utilized an 8-0 run to take not only a 38-36 lead after the third quarter of play, but a 40-36 lead to begin the fourth quarter. Logan Adkins' layup, a up-ahead transition pass from Woods to Crisshawn Dukes, and a tough bucket by Connie Thomas with 2.7 seconds left to play in the third quarter gave the Trojans the lead.

"We've emphasized the fact that we've got to play with five guys on the offensive end," Smith said. "Sometimes we get a little stagnant, and sometimes the ball sticks. We've really put an emphasis the past few days on how important it is to share the basketball and make teams defend us. We made Valley guard and found the right spots in their zone."

Then, it was Mekhi Berry's turn.

Finding his way onto the floor in the fourth quarter, Berry, who oozes potential, responded immediately by scoring a tough bucket on the low block. The freshman then followed that up by making arguably the best pass of the night of any player, when the freshman received the basketball in the high post and found a cutting Adkins perfectly as Adkins' cut to the paint was met by a perfect chest pass from Berry, resulting in a layup that gave Portsmouth a 42-38 advantage.

"I'm really proud of both of my freshmen," Smith said. "Joe Greene stepped in, played big minutes and hit two really big threes. Mekhi Berry gave us some good minutes. He broke his foot this summer almost to smithereens, and he's just now getting back healthy. Joe is just in a situation where he's right behind Daequan and Connie (Thomas), and that's a tough room to crack, no matter how good you are. He's found a way to maneuver into that lineup. He's taken everything that we've given him and he's taken it and ran with it. I'm really proud of his progress."

But Valley senior Christian Copen responded back.

Simply refusing to let the Indians settle for a defeat, Copen resulted with four points, three rebounds and a deflection that resulted in Valley getting the basketball back in a 90-second span.

In a beautifully executed set of post moves, Copen countered Berry's excellent defense with four different low-post combinations for a bucket that tied the game at 42 apiece, and his deflection of the basketball allowed Dunham to come up with a key steal that sent Dunham to the line for two free throws, which the junior canned to give Valley a 44-42 advantage with 1:03 left.

"Such timely shots," Tackett said of Copen's play down the stretch. "He's very patient with the ball. When he has it, he doesn't get in a hurry or feel rushed. If he feels like he can make a move on a guy, it may be the second, third or fourth move, but he'll continue to work on a guy, then make a great read. He's a very, very high IQ type of player, I feel like, and he makes things happen in a very timely manner."

"Defense is going to win us games," Copen said. "Rebounding and defense. We knew that Portsmouth hit a few shots to give them the lead at half, so in the second half, we knew that every stop we made was going to matter. We knew every stop would add up to the end, and we ended up capitalizing on that and coming out on top."

Unfazed, Portsmouth came right back with patience. Working the ball around for the best shot, Greene got open as the Trojans swung the ball out at the top of the key, and canned a go-ahead three-pointer with 32.9 seconds to play to put Portsmouth up by one, 45-44.

But Valley still had time.

And in its final full offensive possession, the Indians executed brilliantly.

With the ball finding its way into the right corner, the ball, which was kicked back out to Conaway at the top of the key, then was swung over to Lundy. The junior penetrated and got into the middle of the zone, found his sweet spot and lifted a layup that found bottom with 17.6 seconds to play to put Valley back up by a point.

"Blake's shot at the end was huge," Tackett said. "They went zone, and we made a quick adjustment to that. Blake found a lane, attacked the zone and was able to knife his way through the defense."

Portsmouth, however, still had one final chance.

Following a Trojan foul after a Valley turnover, Portsmouth got the ball back again after a pair of free throws were missed, and drew up a well-executed inbound play with less than two seconds left that got Woods a quality look from the left corner. But Lundy read the play well defensively, and was able to defend the shot by Woods effectively, forcing extra pressure on the look to help the Indians come out with the win.

With the victory, Valley improved to 6-0 in what has been a fantastic start to the 2025-26 season for the Indians. They, however, will get no rest — as a road trip to a strong West squad that is 4-1 overall awaits.

"I'm really proud of our guys for adjusting and adapting as games have gone on," Tackett said. "We've made adjustments game to game even and played man-to-man most of the season except for tonight, where we zoned almost the whole game. I thought our guys did a great job in terms of communicating in that zone and making things happen. We've also been pushing the pace offensively as well, and tonight, it was more of a slow down, work it around type of a pace. Our guys have really bought in to figuring out how we can win our matchups."

As for Portsmouth, the Trojans still sit 3-3 — with two of their three losses, coming to a combined 9-0 mark that Valley and Wheelersburg presently sit with, by just 11 points in all. The Trojans will head to Manchester Saturday evening in what will be another nonconference bout.

"I'm looking forward to how this group connects and gels," Smith said. "This has been a really rough stretch for us. These last few days have been really rough. Games over the holiday break, on the road, tough opponents — you deal with a lot of elements. We'll get better. There's a lot of things we did well tonight. There's things that we didn't do as well on. We'll fix those and continue to get there."

Read Entire Article