Patriots boys basketball hold off Wolverines’ late game push

By Juan Cebrerios Correspondent

Despite the Heritage Patriots boys basketball team holding a double-digit lead with a minute to play, they still nearly lost to the host Deer Valley Wolverines. However, senior guard Teyo Campbell connected on two free throws to give Heritage a 54-49 victory over the Wolverines.

Heritage opened with sloppy play and trailed only 13-10 after one quarter.

Deer Valley’s defense forced several turnovers in the first quarter, and the team dominated the Patriots in rebounds scoring majority of their points off of second-chance shots from offensive rebounds.

Into the second quarter Heritage cleaned up their play by limiting the turnovers and tightening up the defense. As the quarter went by, both teams played clean basketball and began to trade scores as halftime neared.

With less than a minute to play, Heritage went on a quick run and scored six unanswered points to go into the half leading 27-22.

While the Patriots held their biggest lead of the game, Deer Valley was not out of this game. Coming out of the half, both teams continued to play clean basketball but the Wolverines were unable to cut into the Patriots’ lead. Going into the fourth quarter, the Patriots led 38-32 but were unable to pull away from the Wolverines.

Heritage started the fourth quarter on a run to take an 11-point lead with four minutes to play in regulation. Deer Valley got their offense back on track but again were unable to cut into the Patriots lead as the two teams traded scores until there was a minute to play with the Patriots leading 52-41.

Deer Valley caught fire and hit three pointers on back-toback possessions to make it 52-47. The Wolverines were running out of options as well as time and now ran a full-court press to either force a turnover or allow them to foul quickly in hopes the Patriots miss their free throws. As the Patriots inbounded the ball, it was stolen by the Wolverines and they made a wide-open layup to make the score 52-49 with 15 seconds to play. The Patriots inbounded the ball again, and this time it was successful as they were fouled and sent to the free throw line with a chance to put the game away. The Patriots missed their free throws, giving Deer Valley a chance to tie the game at 52. The Wolverines got a good look at a three-point shot to tie but they missed and the Patriots got the rebound. Wolverines had to foul and hope for more missed free throws, but Campbell hit his free throws securing a 54-49 Patriots win and preventing a collapse.

After the game, Patriots head coach Carly Perales noted the near collapse was due to the team’s inexperience. “We’re making some mistakes where we don’t understand game situations all the time, and because of that we had a couple turnovers, left some guys open for threes when we’re trying to take those specific things away, but they still happen.”

Heritage remains undefeated in league play at 4-0, 9-10 overall, and is on the road to take on Liberty and Freedom high schools before returning home to play Antioch high on Jan. 31.

Deer Valley drops to 0-4 in league play, 5-15 overall, and has now lost seven games in a row. They are on the road against Freedom, Antioch, and Pittsburg high schools before returning home on Feb. 2 to face Heritage again. All tip-offs are scheduled for 7 p.m.