Never downplay the importance of defense.
Tuesday night in the Hidden Valley gym, Patrick Henry came out of the halftime break with an aggressive, swarming style of D that propelled the Patriots to the 69-47 win over the Titans in a key River Ridge matchup.
“We talked at halftime about more defensive intensity to start the second half,” PH head coach Jack Esworthy noted afterward in the Patriot locker room. “We were gambling in the first half and Hidden Valley hit some threes. I wanted to make them come to us.”
The first half was a fast-paced affair for both teams. PH was up 18-17 with 1:28 left in the opening quarter, but the Patriots took advantage of Hidden Valley’s impatience on the offensive end in the last minute, scoring the final three points for a 21-17 lead.
The Titans tied things at 21 early in the second before PH went on a 10-3 run that sent the Patriots to the break up 31-24.
“We had a couple possessions late in the first half where we didn’t value the ball, ” Hidden Valley head coach Troy Wells said. “We were in position to keep things close. We have to get better with those situations.”
Patrick Henry’s defense to start the second half resembled a horse blanket, leading to chippy play and Hidden Valley getting somewhat frustrated. The Titans didn’t score their first points of the third quarter until the 4:46 mark, at which time PH had pulled out to a 39-26 advantage. Christian Kirchman hit 2 of his 7 3-pointers late in the third, giving the Patriots a comfortable 50-33 lead heading to the final 8 minutes.
Hidden Valley made it interesting when J.J. DeVaughn scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter to cut the PH advantage to 50-38, but the Patriots went on a 17-4 run at that point to take firm control.
“We knew they’d be physical,” Wells added of PH. “We don’t typically see that type of play and we got frustrated. It took us out of what we wanted to do.”
“We moved the ball well tonight and played hard ” Esworthy added. “It’s a four game week for us. Two down and two to go.”
On the shoulders of his 7 treys, Kirchman led the Patriot scoring with 28 points. Tyler Pollard added 18 for PH.
Hidden Valley had a trio of double digit scorers, with DeVaughn, Camden Sine and Graham Whitaker each netting 10 points for the Titans.
– Bill Turner
