By Lori Brown
GRAHAMSVILLE — Tri-Valley’s relentless defense proved too much for visiting Roscoe as the Bears rolled to an easy 58-26 victory Friday night’s in a non-league boys’ basketball game.
“T-V deserves the credit,” Roscoe Coach Fred Ahart said. “With their pressure defense, they took us out of our game. They generally took us out of the rhythm of our offense.
“Their pressure defense was a big factor,” Ahart added. “They continued to work hard and not give up.”
After a quick 4-0 start by Roscoe, T-V answered with a 10-0 run capped by a Rodney Jester 3-pointer to give the Bears a 13-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
In the second period, T-V (6-5) outscored Roscoe 11-7 to take a 24-12 lead at halftime. Jester and teammate Jesus Lozada each made a 3-pointer in the period.
The Bears then put the game away in the third quarter, opening with a 7-0 spurt and finishing with a 9-0 stretch to increase the lead to 42-17.
T-V’s James Pugh keyed the scoring runs with seven points in those eight minutes of play.
“We played pretty good defensively,” T-V Coach Brian Tingley said. “Everyone came in and did their job today and was unselfish with the ball. Gavin [DuBois] got his first varsity points today; he had a really good practice the day before. We are developing big men through the season.
“We have seven games left, and we need to win any three games to get into sectionals or any two league games,” Tingley continued. “Our goal is to keep improving. Every game we play, we get better and better.”
Tingley noted that the Bears played very well on defense.
“James Pugh is responsible for shutting down Rob Taurino [Roscoe’s leading scorer], and held him to only 10 points,” Tingley said. “That was one of our goals that we wanted to accomplish and we did. We stepped up our defense tonight. That is the way you have to play.”
Roscoe, who visits Livingston Manor tomorrow in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI game. didn’t help its cause, by missing 17 of 24 foul shots.