You can't lose the match if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Valentine's strategy against the North Central Knights on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Valentine blew North Central out of the water with a 70-40 final score. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 47-21.
Leading Valentine to victory were Dominic Beebout and Andon Olson. Beebout scored 17 points along with eight assists, while Olson scored 26 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. It was the first time this season that Beebout posted eight or more assists. Lex Larsen was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with two steals.
Mason Hagan and Zak Swanson certainly did their best on Thursday to avoid the loss. Hagan scored 13 points along with six rebounds and three steals, while Swanson scored 11 points along with two steals. Swanson has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last ten times he's played.
The win made it two in a row for Valentine and bumps their season record up to 10-10. As for North Central, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-10.
Valentine will be playing in front of their home fans against Gordon-Rushville at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Gordon-Rushville is coming into the game with seven straight losses on the road, meaning Valentine will have to defend against a squad hungry for a victory. As for North Central, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 69-41 defeat vs. Ainsworth on the 12th.
