Central Valley claws back in second half to beat, eliminate rival University

The Central Valley Bears found themselves down by 15 points early in the second half of a loser-out 4A regional contest at a packed University High gymnasium.

But something suddenly clicked, and shots that weren’t falling in the first half started going in, and the Bears turned the score around en route to a 55-53 win over their rival U-Hi Titans.

“Against U-Hi (games) have been battles all year so it was our turn to sneak one out,” CV coach Rick Sloan said.

The Titans had a number of chances to tie or take the lead late in the game. After a Dray White 3-pointer got the Titans within three, U-Hi sent CV to the free throw line.

After a missed free throw, CV got its own rebound to keep U-Hi down. It happened again with CV leading by 1 with less than 30 seconds to play. Those two missed opportunities sealed U-Hi’s fate.

After the Titans scored the last three baskets of the first half and the first two in the second half, CV went on an 18-2 run to close out the third quarter. A buzzer beating 3-pointer at the end of the quarter by Max Sykes gave the Bears their first lead of the night.

They wouldn’t relinquish that lead the rest of the way.

U-Hi used its size advantage to take control in the first half. Robert Little, Austin Dill and Noah Martin did the dirty work in the paint while Garrett Schmerer took care of the offense from the perimeter. The interior three combined for 24 of U-Hi’s 31 first-half points.

“(U-Hi) wanted it more,” said CV’s Eli Emerson. “We had to get our will back because we weren’t executing at all, but we pulled it together.”

Sloan praised his team’s focus in the second half.

“I thought we settled for a lot of jump shots the first half,” Sloan said. “In the second half we just talked about how we needed to be a little more aggressive and get some second shots.”

For his part, Emerson knew he had to shoot better as well.

“I did miss a lot,” he said. “Coach believes in me and my shot and he tells me to keep shooting when I’m having a bad day.”

Emerson took his coach’s advice and finished with 18 points and hit three important 3-pointers in the second half to bring CV back.

Cameron Tucker scored 15 points for the Bears and had to leave the game for a long stretch in the third quarter. He eventually came back in the fourth, playing to CV’s theme of the night.

“In the second half (the team) showed me a lot,” Sloan said. “We were down 10 or so at halftime and the only way we’d get back is if we competed and battled and we did.”

Richland 72, Mead 63: Steven Beo poured in a game-high 35 points and the Bombers regained control in the fourth quarter and beat the visiting Panthers (13-11) to claim the top seed to the regional round of the state tournament.

Mead will host Central Valley today for the second and final seed.

The Panthers trailed by 13 at the half, but outscored Richland 25-11 in the fourth to take a one-point lead heading into the fourth. The Bombers, however, hit their free throws late and pulled away for good.

Mead’s Max Hess tallied a team-high 25 points, including eight in the Panthers’ third-quarter charge. Josh Richter added 12 for Mead.