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03/04/2017 11:00 PMLast week, the Valley Regional girls’ basketball team competed in the Class M State Tournament, where the Warriors posted a 57-50 victory at Prince Tech in first round action before taking a 52-33 loss at 7th-seeded St. Paul in a second round matchup. With its final record of 14-10, Valley completed its most successful season in several years.
Valley tipped off the state tourney with a game at No. 10 seed Prince Tech on Feb. 28. Both teams played to stalemate in the first quarter and the game was tied 13-13 after one. In the second quarter, Valley Head Coach Geoff Konstan changed up his game-plan by putting five bench players on the floor. Konstan caught lightning in a bottle as the Warriors outscored the Falcons 23-6 in the frame to hold a 36-19 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish in the 57-50 victory. Senior forward Amber Preble, junior forward Heidi Clark, sophomore guards Heather Jones and Sadie Konstan, and sophomore forward Annie Cooper led Valley to its big second quarter effort.
“I knew when I made that move that I would either look really good or really bad. It was just one of those things that worked out for us,” said Konstan. “That group, they just killed it. They combined for a 15-0 run that basically won the game for us. It was the greatest stretch of basketball we had the entire night.”
As a result of using a variety of players, the Warriors’ scoring was more spread out in the Prince Tech victory. Still, sophomore guard Alexis Finnerty had another big game by scoring 24 points to go with seven rebounds, three steals, and three assists.
Three nights later, Valley faced 7th-seeded St. Paul for a second round game on the road. The Warriors trailed 10-6 after the first quarter and were down 25-13 at halftime. With their season on the line, the Warriors clawed their way back by outscoring by St. Paul 16-7 in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, Valley cut the Falcons’ lead to a single point after making its first basket. However, Valley expended a lot of energy in its comeback, and St. Paul soon followed with a bucket that brought the lead back up to three and set up the turning point of the game. Sadie Konstan had a good look at a three-pointer that rattled out of the hoop after it was three-quarters of the way down. The Valley bench leapt to its feet believing that the game was tied, but St. Paul grabbed the rebound, and threw an outlet pass to a player who was ahead of the pack and converted an “and-1” layup. The six-point swing was a big blow to the Warriors, who had to start fouling to stop the clock in the later stages of the game. St. Paul made 12 of its 16 free throws in the final period to go on to the 52-33 win.
“St. Paul is spectacular. They have a tremendous basketball program and they recruit really well,” Coach Konstan said. “We were thoroughly outplayed early in the game. We allowed too many offensive rebounds in the first half, and we probably should have been down more, but at halftime, I told them that win or lose, if this is how the season is going to end, let’s end it with pride, and they did.”
Senior captain forward Francesca Daniels led the Warriors in scoring with nine points, and she also provided five boards, two assists, and three blocks. Fellow senior captain Brianna O’Brien grabbed 11 rebounds to go with five steals and three points. Finnerty had eight points, six rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals. Senior captain guard Libby Spitzschuh added six points, had five steals, and grabbed three rebounds.
In the end, Coach Konstan feels pleased with the sum total of the Warriors’ campaign and views his club’s two playoff wins as huge stepping stones for the program’s future. Konstan is especially proud of his athletes for never relenting until the final horn sounded against St. Paul.
“Honestly, I’ve never been more proud of this group. It was the most inspired effort I’ve seen out of them,” said Coach Konstan, whose squad also defeated Coginchaug in the Shoreline Conference Tournament. “[The atmosphere at St. Paul] was unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The girls couldn’t even hear me call the plays. For us to come back in that atmosphere is just a testament to those girls. They gave every single thing that they had. I even had parents from St. Paul coming over to me telling how much they admired the girls’ effort.”
From the Sidelines
The Valley Regional girls’ basketball team moved from Class S to Class M following the 2012-’13 season after losing to Capital Prep in the quarterfinals of the Class S State Tournament.
Prior to 2013, the last time the Warriors won a State Tournament game came in 1999, when they claimed the Class S state championship by defeating Canton.
Valley will graduate five athletes from this year’s team in their three senior captains, Libby Spitzschuh, Brianna O’Brien, and Francesca Daniels, along with fellow seniors Amber Preble and Julia Jenkins.