VALLEY LOCKS IT DOWN LATE

By Michael Ginocchi

Youngstown, OH- Valley Christian hosted Lowellville in a non-conference match Tuesday evening. Both teams were coming off a loss and were looking to get a key win. Both teams were going back and forth throughout the night as the score was 30-25 at half in favor of Valley. In the second half, Lowellville was able to take a lead and had the Eagles on the ropes. The Eagle defense was suffocating during the final 3 minutes of the game not allowing the Rockets to get hardly any shots off. In the end Valley Christian held on for the thrilling 47-43 win! 

Rashaun Bell came up big for Valley Christian all night. It seemed like anytime the Eagles needed a basket, he came through. Bell led the Eagles with 23 points and was an effective 6/9 from the foul line. What was most impressive is that Rashaun Bell was excellent defensively making it tough for anyone to score on him. Deion Miller was also solid, scoring 11 points in helping Valley to victory.

Although it wasn’t the outcome they wanted, Lowellville had three players score in double figures. Michael Balone led the Rockets with 12 points. Matt Lucido chipped in 11, while Tino Ocasio-Rivera added 10. Lowellville had multiple chances from the foul line, but that was an area of struggle. The Rockets were just 9/23 from the foul line which proved to be the difference in the game.

With the win, Valley Christian improves to 4-3 on the season. They will host Southern Local on Friday at 7:00 pm. Lowellville, drops to 2-5 with the loss.The Rockets will hit the road again this Friday at Mineral Ridge.