Valley boys nearly overcome 21-point deficit, lose to Troup County 53-49

Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, December 11, 2018

LaGRANGE — A score from the Valley Rams with 5:40 remaining in the matchup cut Troup County’s lead to 19 points. Around 1:30 to go in the fourth quarter, the Tigers lead was only six.

“We have a good team,” Valley boys head basketball coach Marshon Harper said. “We just have to keep on plugging in, plugging in, and it’s going to happen. I don’t know when it’s going to work, but it’s going to break. The guys played defense, we’ve got some steals, we got a couple of slams, threes, and they were energized then.”

The energized effort would ultimately come up short, however, as Troup defeated Valley 53-49. 

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“I told the guys that if we can play like that from the first quarter to the end of the fourth quarter, we’re going to be alright, and we’re going to win some ballgames,” Harper said. 

Valley scored in a flurry of ways during the comeback, including a huge three-pointer by Kintavious Dozier coming down the stretch, but the biggest moment came from Rams sophomore Jacquez Trammell blowing past the Tigers defense to throw down an emphatic dunk. The play got Valley’s attentiveness on defense up even more.

“It’s a great thing because, in the beginning, he was getting frustrated, he wasn’t playing his game,” Harper said. “Then, he woke up, and got that slam. Then, he started getting some steals. The steals started building some confidence in himself.”

Trammell, senior forward T.J. Winston and freshman guard K.D. Hutchinson all led the Rams with 10 points in the effort. 

Troup won with a collective effort, as none of the Tigers got into double figures and 11 players got on the board.

Valley travels to face Beulah on Thursday, while  Troup prepares to host Callaway on Saturday. The Rams defeated the Bobcats in the last matchup.

“I told my guys don’t think because you beat a team once that you’re going to beat them again,” Harper said. “We’re going to prepare for them like we prepared  for Troup and LaFayette.”