Second quarter run surges ACH in win over Panthers

COULEE CITY — The Warrior boys basketball team won its ninth consecutive game with Tuesday night’s 76-39 defeat of Valley Christian, improving to 12-1 on the year after holding the Panthers to just 12 points in the second half.

Both sides were tied at 24 early in the second quarter, but a prolonged scoring run gave ACH a double-digit lead at the half.

“We’re trying to keep the one game at a time approach and not get ahead of ourselves,” head coach Graham Grindy said. “Second time through league, you get a feeling of who’s going to be tough next time around. Valley (Christian) came out and they started really well, and that kind of rattled us.”

The Warriors opened the game on a 10-3 scoring run, but it didn’t take long for Valley Christian to attack back; by the end of the opening frame, ACH held a 22-17 lead. The Panthers cut the deficit to two points in the second quarter on a three-point play and tied the game at 24 with free throws shortly after.

“I’m going to give credit to their players, they were taking it to the rack and getting it,” Grindy said. “We’re trying to continually work on and take pride in our one-on-one defense, so when we close out and they get to the hole, that’s where they were getting us. Our guys, maybe they came out and expected them – after that 10-3 run – to just kind of go away and lose confidence. Hats off to (Valley Christian), they did not; they just kept coming at us.”

ACH broke the tie with a lay-up by sophomore Tucker Bayless, which sparked a 15-3 scoring run to end the first half.

“Basketball is definitely a game of runs; they had theirs, and I don’t believe they had a run after that one in the first half,” Grindy said. 

Sophomore Max Grindy connected on two three-pointers during the run.

“We had to come together as a team; play team defense and keep lifting ourselves up,” he said. “Just playing united — that's what kept us in.”

While the Warriors continued to roll on the offensive end, they locked down defensively, holding the Panthers to just six points in both the third and fourth quarters. 

“We really try to pride ourselves on communication. We didn’t communicate really well in the first half; we were aggressive, but we were so over-aggressive that when they got themselves out of it, we were out of position and they’d get somebody open ... in the second half, we did a better job of communicating and rotating through our defense.”

Physical play was the key in second-half defensive play, Max Grindy said.

“We just had to play more physical,” he said. “We talked a lot more, we were more energetic. It’s a tale of two halves; we talked a lot more, were more physical and that got the job done.”

Junior Josh Booker and Max Grindy tied for a game-high in points, as each player scored 20 in the win. Following the two was eighth-grader Nolan Grindy with 16. Eight different Warrior players scored in Tuesday’s win.

ACH hosts Wilbur-Creston-Keller Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Wellpinit — the only team that has defeated ACH this season — Saturday at 6 p.m.

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline eighth-grader Nolan Grindy (15) launches a three-pointer during Tuesday’s game against Valley Christian.
  

    ACH sophomore Max Grindy scored 20 points in Tuesday’s win over Valley Christian, tying with teammate Josh Booker for a game-high in scoring.