The Valley Patriots are once again the Region I-1A Division I champions, but Boys Ranch sure made the Patriots work for it.
Valley had to rally back the entire game, and were finally able to take a lead late in the fourth quarter, that propelled Valley to a 56-52 win over a scrappy Roughriders squad to claim that regional championship in Dimmitt on Thursday night.
The Patriots (28-4) are moving on to the UIL Division I state semifinals to take on Munday (29-9) at 6 p.m. Monday, at the Texan Dome on the campus of South Plains College in Levelland.
“It’s quite the accomplishment to be heading back to the state semifinals,” Valley head coach Aaron Green said. “We as a school have never done that before. This has been the goal all season and these guys have worked to do just that. It’s been exciting and we have a lot of basketball left.”
Boys Ranch, which was making its first ever appearance in the regional finals, finishes an incredible season at 16-10.
The Roughriders led the entire way Thursday night. Boys Ranch had a 18-16 lead after the first quarter, and were up 31-25 at the break. By the end of the third quarter, the game was tied, 41-41. In the fourth quarter, the Patriots finally took over down the stretch and were able to get the win.
A key to getting this victory was the play of 6-foot-10 sophomore post Corbin Taylor. Taylor was a mismatch, taking the game into his own hands, scoring a game-high 30 points, with 17 of those points coming in the second half. Corbin’s brother, Kanyon, followed with 12 points.
“This was a very tough game,” Green said. “Boys Ranch came out on fire and we weren’t shooting it well. Boys Ranch led at halftime and I told the team at halftime, we’re just going to have to start chipping away. It took a while but we never gave up, we chipped away, and things turned in our favor. I also don’t even know what to say about Corbin. He was so instrumental in the comeback. We just kept feeding him inside and it started to work. They didn’t have an answer for him, and Corbin had a great night.”