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02/25/2017 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional boys’ basketball team dropped a 62-44 decision at Shoreline Conference foe Coginchaug in its regular season finale on Feb. 20 and missed qualifying for the Class S State Tournament by one win with a record of 7-13. The Warriors were plagued by injuries throughout the season, and the resulting fatigue from their diminished depth finally caught up with them during the home stretch of the campaign.
Even with his team banged up, Valley Head Coach Kevin Woods still thought the Warriors could prevail versus Coginchaug by playing hard-nosed basketball. Valley did that, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough to get past the Blue Devils. Coach Woods didn’t try to make any excuses—his players wouldn’t want him to—but he could tell that they were feeling the effects of a long, grueling season.
“We had a key player out. Some of the other guys were battling some injuries, as well,” said Coach Woods. “They never talk about it, but you could see they were less than 100 percent.”
When the contest versus Coginchaug tipped off in Durham, the Warriors had their backs against the wall right out of the gate. The Blue Devils outscored Valley 22-4 in the first quarter and, by the half, Coginchaug held a 34-9 advantage. With a seemingly insurmountable deficit to overcome, Valley turned up its offense in the third quarter and played the Blue Devils even with a score of 16-16. Valley won the final frame 19-12, but couldn’t claw back within striking distance, and took the 18-point defeat.
Even though the result wasn’t what he had hoped for, Coach Woods was still proud of the effort his team gave in the face of adversity.
“In the second half, the kids gave everything they had,” Woods said. “We were down 25 at the half and the kids played hard to make it a game.”
Junior forward Ben Weinstein scored 12 points and hauled in six rebounds for the Warriors. Senior captain guard Jordan Moran provided nine points, while corralling five rebounds and dishing five assists. Junior captain Ernest Jean-Pierre, a guard, added six points and grabbed six rebounds. Fellow junior captain Colin Sparaco scored six to go with three boards and three assists.
With the 2016-’17 season finished, Coach Woods and company will make another run at the playoffs next year, when many of his athletes will be returning. Since most of the Warriors’ varsity squad is made up of juniors, Valley will have some continuity to build upon after coming up one victory shy of returning to postseason play this winter.
“It was a disappointing end, but it was good to go out with a fight,” said Coach Woods. “They’ve brought the fight all year. We had to get by with grit and we just fell a little short toward the end of the season.”
From the Sidelines
The Warriors’ wins the season came against Old Saybrook (66-59), Hale-Ray (46-30), Portland (80-66), Haddam-Killingworth (86-65 and 68-65), North Branford (44-39), and Morgan (77-55).
Valley also took losses to Coginchaug (62-61 and 63-44), East Hampton (61-53), Waterford (89-66), Cromwell (65-49 and 53-46), Morgan (59-57), Old Lyme (67-51), Westbrook (62-51), East Lyme (63-49), Ledyard (66-49), Creed (71-41), and North Branford (52-31).
Jordan Moran led the Warriors in scoring with 15.3 points per game and assists with 4.2 per game. Weinstein led the team in rebounding with 7.9 boards a game, while senior guard Ryan Kelly averaged the most steals at 1.2 per night.