Members of the Valley boys basketball team made sure to talk about both of their potential semifinal opponents after earning a Western D quarterfinal win Saturday.
Josh West, Caleb Wade and Carrington Miller all made comments about both A.R. Gould and Forest Hills as those two teams prepared to play their own quarterfinal game.
The Cavaliers, however, were clearly more familiar with their rivals from Jackman.
“We’ve been rivals with Jackman for the past few years, they are only 40 minutes up the road,” Wade said.
No. 3 Valley (15-4) and No. 2 Forest Hills (16-3) will get to know each other a little better today, when they face off in the Western D quarterfinals at 10 this morning. Valley beat Forest Hills in both regular-season meetings, winning 45-41 on Dec. 20 and 56-43 on Jan. 3.
“Plain and simple, they are the only team to beat us twice,” Forest Hills coach Anthony Amero said. “We lost three games and two of them were to Valley.”
In today’s other semifinal, No. 1 Hyde (16-1) will face No. 5 Vinalhaven (12-7) at 11:30 a.m.
Valley and Forest Hills went about winning their quarterfinal games a bit differently. Valley started slow and its leading scorer, Carrington Miller, was slowed by North Haven in the Cavaliers’ 54-34 win, scoring just nine points.
But the Cavaliers got contributions from a number of players. Wade scored 17, West had 16 and Seth Malloy hit a pair of big 3-pointers to finish with eight.
“I thought all along, Valley has the most talent in the tournament, maybe with the exception of Hyde,” Amero said. “They play team basketball. Valley has been together, this group, since they were sixth graders, you could see this was going to be a special group.”
Forest Hills, meanwhile, rode Evan Worster to an 88-37 win. Worster set the tournament record with 51 points, dominating an overmatched A.R. Gould team in the paint.
Valley had success against Worster, holding the 6-foot-2 junior to 11 points on Dec. 20.
“They don’t have a lot of size, but they have one of the best defenders in the conference in Josh West,” Worster said. “It will be a tough matchup between me and him.”
In the second game today, top-seeded Hyde is led by point guard Tyquan Ekejiuba, who had 10 points and five assists in the Phoenix 60-40 semifinal win over Buckfield, and forward Jonah Alexander, who grabbed 20 rebounds.
“Jonah Alexander is a fierce warrior on the offensive boards,” Hyde coach Peter Rowe said. “He doesn’t take a play off when he’s down low. One of the best things about him is he’s relentless in terms of pursuing the ball.”
Vinalhaven, which reached the Western D finals last season, is led by 6-1 forward Steven Osgood, who scored 19 points in a 63-46 win over Greenville in the quarterfinals.
Staff writer Gary Hawkins contributed to this report
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