PV boys hit nine free throws down the stretch to top Miyamura

GALLUP

The Piedra Vista boys’ basketball team were caught flat-footed in their season-opener with the Miyamura Patriots on Saturday night.

The Panthers of PV trailed for most of the game before they rallied with a 57-51 win.

With PV trying to press Miyamura, the Patriots used their speed and capitalized with several baskets as the home team staked a 21-12 lead midway through the second quarter.

To gain that nine-point margin, Miyamura had had a couple of putbacks, one from Sheldon Chee and the other by Presley Nelson. Meanwhile, guard Dequan Walker added a three-point shot during a 9-4 scoring burst.

The Panthers, however, inched their way back into the game and narrowed that gap to 23-16 at the break with junior post Jarrett Graham scoring four of his game-high 18 points.

PV then got a much-needed jolt from junior guard Christian Chavez in the middle of the third quarter as he scored eight of his 13 points.

“He was our sparkplug tonight,” Piedra Vista coach Devon Manning said of Chavez. “We were struggling offensively in the second half but he’s quick and he had three and-ones for us. He was our sparkplug, and everyone fed off of him and then we took off.”

Manning said they had to gut this win out and he thanked Miyamura for giving them a tough ballgame. As for the Patriots breaking their press, the first-year PV coach said half of the problem was they did not rotate well enough.

“We gave away some cheap layups because our guys were not rotating well,” he said. “But give Miyamura credit. They were doing what they needed to do to break our press.”

But once they got the lead, he was happy with the way they closed them out as the Panthers went on a 9-3 run in the games’ final three minutes with all of their points coming from the free throw line.

---