AUGUSTA – Travis Hovey, Mark Hyland and Lucas Melcher were the boys on the Augusta Civic Center floor for Valley at the end of Wednesday’s Western Class D basketball semifinal win over North Yarmouth Academy.
Look closely, though, and you might have caught a glimpse of Chris Willer, Nick Pelotte, the Hartwell twins and other Cavaliers of recent vintage.
Given the way its program has dominated the regional and state small-school hoop scene over the last eight years, it’s no wonder Valley seems to haunt this place.
Fueled by its dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against the Panthers, Valley will shoot for its eighth straight Western D title at 8:45 p.m. today against Pine Tree Academy.
“Everything that could happen, did happen in the last few minutes of that game,” Valley coach Dwight Littlefield said of the Cavaliers’ 70-68 win.
Valley trailed 64-55 with four minutes remaining in the contest.
Pine Tree narrowly averted NYA’s fate. The Breakers watched most of an 18-point lead slip away in the other semifinal before dismissing Hyde, 59-53.
Valley (17-3) is seeded third, while Pine Tree (18-2) is top-ranked for the first time in school history.
The Cavaliers will be a prohibitive favorite, though, thanks to tradition and tournament experience.
Hyland, a slashing forward with deft perimeter touch, point guard Melcher and defensive pest Tyler Giberson all are seniors.
Hovey, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday, is a 6-foot-5 junior.
“I just wanted the ball,” Hovey said of a run in which he scored 12 straight Valley points. “I knew that was our season.”
Pine Tree leans on the multi-faceted game of senior Jerod Verrill, who has scored 1,700 points in his career, and sophomore outside shooting ace Ben Goodall.
Gatthak Deng has emerged as a third scoring and rebounding threat this season.
“Our offense comes from our defense,” Pine Tree coach Wayne Goodall said. “It should be a fun, up-and-down game.”
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