English Valleys Boys Win Thriller Over Tri-County in Tournament Play-In Game

NORTH ENGLISH—The English Valleys Bears hosted the Tri-County Trojans on February 11 for the play-in game of the Class 1A-Region 6 bracket. The Bears bested the Trojans by a final score of 46-41.

The Bears quickly jumped out to a 15-8 lead after a quarter of play. They pushed their lead over the Trojans to 26-17 at half behind 10 first half points from Myles Grove and eight points from Reese Bender.

The Trojans came storming back in the third quarter to the tune of a 12-0 run. With the game tied up at 31 apiece with little time left in the third, English Valleys’ Myles Groves scored three straight points to end the quarter to give the Bears a 34-31 lead heading into the fourth. 

In the fourth, the Trojans stormed out with a David Gillam transition two and a Cayle Kitzman three pointer. English Valleys’ Reese Bender responded by scoring seven straight points for the Bears to retake the lead for English Valleys. The Bears ended up holding onto this lead en route to the 46-41 victory. 

The Bears were led by junior Myles Grove, who finished his night with 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. English Valleys’ head coach Keshaun Kennedy spoke on the night from Grove with, “I call him the Saver.” He described how Grove always comes up with big plays to put the team on his shoulders. 

Senior Reese Bender was the second leading scorer for the Bears with 15 points. Senior Keshaun Lundy was a force to be reckoned with in the paint, as he amassed 15 rebounds. Coach Kennedy spoke on the effort from Kennedy with, “He does things that you can’t put onto a stat sheet.” He went on to describe what Lundy means to the team with, “I am glad nobody else has him, and we got him.” 

Coach Kennedy spoke on how his team responded to Tri-County making a 12-0 run to tie the game in the second half with, “In my head, I knew they would make a run.” He went on to describe how proud he was to see them respond to this adversity in the game.  

The Trojans were led by senior Cayle Kitzman, who concluded his night with 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, five steals and two blocks. Senior Corbyn Thomas was the leading rebounder for the Trojans with 10.

Tri-County head coach Dylan Springer after the game described his team's performance with one thing, “A lot of heart.” He was extremely proud of how hard his team fought all game, and refused to give up. His last message to his team on and off the court was, “never give up.”

The Bears advance to the first round of the Class 1A-Region 6 bracket, and will visit the Lynnville-Sully Eagles on February 13.