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District 2 Boys Game Wrap (Mid Valley vs. Tunkhannock)
 

District 2 Boys Game Wrap (Mid Valley vs. Tunkhannock)

Written by: Jon K on December 18, 2021

 

 

December 18, 2021

 

Spartans Hold Off Late Tunkhannock Surge

 

Mid Valley 39, Tunkhannock 35

 

By Phil Thrash

SCRANTON – Mid Valley capped off the LIAA/WVC Conference Challenge with a 39-35 victory over Tunkhannock on Saturday afternoon.

After a poor offensive second quarter in which Tunkhannock could only muster one field-goal, the Tigers would outscore the Spartans over the final two periods, 22-15, but were never able to recover from their first half deficit.

Both teams found their shot early in the game, trading baskets en route to five ties in the opening stanza.  Ben Chilson got the scoring started with a mid-range jumper on Tunk’s opening possession and a balanced Tigers’ attack would feature four different players scoring in the opening stanza.  The Spartans matched the Tigers by connecting on five-field goals from four different players as well.

After the first horn, the two teams offensively went separate ways.  Tunkhannock missed their touch and could not get anything to fall while Mid Valley went on 13-0 run on their way to taking a 21-10 lead.  Cameron Riccardo would play stellar defense through that span, generating four steals in the half for the Spartans.  

With less than a minute in the half, Chilson would finally get the Tigers on the board with a shot beyond the arc, however, Tunkhannock would still trail the Spartans at the half, 24-13.

Facing a double-digit deficit, Shane Macko acted quickly to start the third period connecting on a three-point field-goal.  Later in the stanza, Chilson and Dylan Mateus would both connect on triples as the Tigers went on a 8-0 run to end the quarter and trail Mid Valley by five points, 30-25.

The margin would remain five points for most of the final quarter as the Tigers were unable to close the gap until late in the game.  With a minute remaining Josh Brown would connect on a triple, his first bucket since the opening stanza, that cut the lead to a single score.  Tunkhannock was forced to send Mid Valley to the foul line to shoot bonus free throws.  Danny Nemitz and Riccardo would only convert half their attempts, but the four-point lead was enough to maintain their edge as the Tigers would not score again.

The Spartans were led by Gabriel Tanner and Richard Vinansky with 13 points each, the duo combined for 20 of Mid Valley’s 24 points in the first half.  Although his stats did not show up on the scoreboard, Cameron Riccardo maintained the Spartan lead with terrific hustle to bring down seven rebounds and forcing five steals in the contest.

Ben Chilson led the Tigers with 13 points and six rebounds in the contest, scoring half of his team points in their resurgent third quarter.

Mid Valley will look to extend their win streak when they travel to face West Scranton on Monday night.

After suffering their initial loss of the season, Tunkhannock will look to rebound when they travel to play Lackawanna Trail on Tuesday.

 

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