The Golden Valley boys basketball team went down to the wire in a non-league game against Moorpark in the Simi Valley Tip-Off Classic at Moorpark on Thursday.
Golden Valley made a comeback in the second half to force overtime but fell short in a 57-55 loss to Moorpark.
“Tonight we got a good glimpse that our guys won’t quit, they will just keep fighting, fighting and fighting,” said Golden Valley head coach Chris Printz. “That’s going to be key to have each other’s backs and stay together.”
Moorpark (5-6 overall) held a one-point after the first quarter of play, a trend that continued through the first three quarters.
“They are a good team, well-coached and play hard,” Printz said. “For us, it’s more about making sure that we execute our stuff. We continue to have an issue scoring from outside which we are trying to do everything we are supposed to do, but sometimes it just doesn’t go down for us.
“On nights when it does, it’s great and on the nights that it doesn’t, you just keep trying, but at the end of the day, if we just defend and rebound, no matter how many points we score we will still give ourselves a chance to be in the game.”
Down 13 points in the second half, Golden Valley (3-3) mounted a furious comeback to take a 43-42 lead thanks to the press that the Grizzlies defense employed creating more and more scoring opportunities.
“Our pressure started to kick in,” Printz said of the comeback. “We hadn’t got as many traps as we wanted to in the first two and a half quarters. Finally, in the third quarter, we started turning them over a little bit and the pace started to be a little bit more the way we wanted to.”
Tied at 49-49 in the final possession of regulation, the Grizzlies defense held stout and didn’t allow the Musketeers to get a shot off to force overtime.
In the overtime period, the Grizzlies got a good spark from Anthony Milligan, who hit two big 3’s, to keep GV within striking range.
Tied at 55-55, Moorpark hit two free throws with seconds left on the clock to go up by two. Golden Valley had the ball for the game’s final possession, but couldn’t score and fell in overtime.
Benicio Preciado had 12 points and six blocks and Ayoub Payton had 11 points for Golden Valley.
Golden Valley plays Quartz Hill tomorrow at Moorpark at 4 p.m.
