Thursday, Jan. 8, 1998 | 11:47 a.m.
It was a highly anticipated matchup between two Southern AAAA boys' basketball powers and Las Vegas and Valley did not disappoint.
The host Wildcats (13-4) rallied from an 8-point halftime deficit to take a seemingly safe seven-point lead late in the game Wednesday night. But Las Vegas nearly blew it before holding on to defeat the Vikings 61-59.
There was drama to the end. Valley had a chance to force overtime, but Jason Juniel's acrobatic lay-up fell short at the buzzer.
Senior guards Mario Finley and Ronnie Jones rallied the Cats with quick hands and quick feet.
Las Vegas coach Tom Farnsworth had high praise for Finley and Jones, who lead a balanced attack with 11 and 9 points, respectively.
"They both have three years of varsity experience under their belt, so we expect them to perform," said Farnsworth. "They're our leaders. The whole team looks up to those guys."
Initially, it looked like it was going to be another easy win for the highly touted Vikings, who slipped to 15-2. They repeatedly broke Las Vegas' 1-2-1-1 press for several easy baskets. Juniel and teammate Alex Hernandez combined for 13 first-quarter points to stake the Vikings to a 19-16 lead.
The second quarter was much the same. Hernandez, Valley's 6-foot-3 center, dominated the backboards, pulling down three of his game-high 15 rebounds in one sequence and finishing the quarter with seven total.
Valley took a 37-29 lead and a load of confidence into the locker room.
Farnsworth knew his team needed to make some adjustments at halftime.
"We were giving away too many breakaway baskets," he said. "I told the team that if we stop giving up easy baskets we'll get back into the game."
His team was listening.
The Wildcats tightened their defense and used a 5-0 run at the beginning of the second half to cut the deficit to three, 37-34. But every time Las Vegas threatened, Hernandez responded with a big play.
The court-savvy senior finished with a game-high 25 points to go with his 15 rebounds and three blocked shots.
But fortunately for Las Vegas, it has some experience as well.
Las Vegas took its first lead of the game (51-50) with 6:25 remaining in the fourth quarter on a lay-up by Chris Mayhood.
Following a steal and a finish by Finley, the Wildcats had a comfortable 57-50 lead with just over three minutes remaining. But poor free-throw shoooting down the stretch nearly cost them the game.
Casey Crockett missed a pair of free throws, allowing Juniel to trim the lead to two (61-59) on a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining.
When the ball was put in play, the Vikings quickly fouled Jamill Ballard. Ballard missed both free throws, but Juniel's length of the court drive to beat the buzzer was unsuccessful.
Mayhood and Crockett contributed to the Las Vegas victory with 10 and 9 points, respectively. Juniel finished with 15 for Valley.
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