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ROCHESTER - There is just something about a rivalry that can make a game much more interesting. The gym fills up faster, the students sections compete to be the loudest and fans should always expect the unexpected.
Valley's 90-83 overtime win over conference nemesis Rochester Friday night is a perfect example of this.
Valley improves to 9-3 and 4-0 in the TRC, Rochester falls to 3-7 and 1-3. Rochester's Deric Beck led all scorers with 29 points. Jarvis Shepherd paced the Vikings with 28.
Perhaps Shepherd's biggest shot of the night came in the waning seconds of the final quarter with Valley facing a three-point deficit.
"In situations like that I want to shoot it," said Shepherd. "When it left my hands it felt so pure, it was so exciting. I'm confident in my shot and I proved that tonight."
Shepherd's three-pointer with two seconds remaining sent the game into overtime knotted at 73.
But reverting to the opening moments of the game it looked as if the Zebras would spoil Valley's chances at a fifth consecutive win.
Beck single-handedly took Rochester on a 7-0 run before Josh Cumberland's field goal at the 6:17 mark put Valley on the board. The Vikings went on a run of their own and took a 17-9 lead into the second stanza after Shepherd tipped in a Noah Silveus three-point miss.
The two teams played to a 20-20 stalemate in the second frame, accounting for Valley's 37-29 lead at halftime.
The Vikings outscored Rochester 20-15 in the third frame leading by 10 or more most of the way but watched as their cushion slipped away.
"Give Rochester credit, they're an excellent offensive team," said Valley coach Bill Patrick. "When it got in the 70s it was a big thing. We didn't intend to get up and down the floor with that many shots, and the tempo was faster than we wanted, but it worked out, I guess."
Combined, the two teams shot the ball 124 times. Valley connected on 32-60 (53.3 percent) from the floor, while the Zebras shot 48.4 percent (31-64) from the field.
Rochester dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Valley 29-16, but the overtime session would belong to the Vikings.
"You couldn't ask these kids to play any harder," said Patrick. "Silveus played as good as you could ask. We got a real good team effort out of everybody."
Silveus knotted the count at 76 with a three-pointer that matched a Beck three-pointer. Beck responded with four consecutive points to give Rochester a 80-76 lead. After a Shepherd block, Silveus came back with a bucket, cutting the deficit to two.
Shepherd connected on a field goal attempt to bring Valley within one, 80-79. The Vikings outscored Rochester 11-4 the rest of the way.
Valley (9-3, 4-0) will host South Bend Washington tonight and travel to Manchester next Friday.
"I think we have a team now," said Patrick. "A couple of weeks ago I wasn't sure. After tonight I think we can play with anybody. We play Manchester next Friday. If we can win that one, we'll have a shot at the conference. I honestly think we can win the conference."
VALLEY 90
ROCHESTER 83 OT
Valley 17 20 20 16 17 - 90
Rochester 9 20 15 29 10 -Ê83
Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
Shepherd (G) 9-14 7-11 2 4 4 28
Silveus 4-7 5-6 1 2 2 15
Eaton (F) 5-8 3-4 1 1 3 14
New (G) 4-12 3-4 1 1 5 11
Prater (F) 4-8 1-2 1 1 3 9
Snyder 3-4 0-0 0 2 2 6
Kuhn 2-3 0-0 0 0 8 4
J. Cumberland (C) 1-2 1-3 0 0 3 3
Weber 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Domenico 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Shafer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
C. Cumberland 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 32-60 20-31 6 11 30 90
Rochester FG FT A S R Pts.
Beck (G) 12-21 1-1 1 1 8 29
Newton (G) 7-16 5-6 0 0 4 23
Clark (C) 4-9 0-4 1 1 2 8
Schnitz (F) 3-9 2-2 1 1 5 8
Bowers 4-6 2-3 0 0 3 6
Patterson 1-1 1-2 0 1 1 4
Barts 1-1 1-3 0 2 6 3
Zink 1-1 0-1 0 0 0 2
Wagoner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 31-64 13-23 3 6 29 83
Three-point goals - Valley 6 (Shepherd 3, Silveus 2, Eaton), Rochester 8 (Beck 4, Newton 3, Patterson). Turnovers - Valley 20, Rochester 17. Fouls - Valley 20, Rochester 20.
Referees: Stan Foreman, Steve Elkins
JV score: Valley 57, Rochester 54
