AUGUSTA — The top-seeded Valley boys basketball team played minus a couple of key players due to illness in its semifinal matchup against Greenville on Wednesday.
Fortunately, Cody Laweryson was not among the missing. The 6-foot-4 senior showcased his all-around skills with a 31-point, 11-rebound performance to lead the Cavaliers to a 60-45 win over the No. 4 Lakers.
Next up for Valley (19-0) is a date with No. 3 Seacoast Christian in the Class D South regional final Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Greenville finishes at 14-6.
The Cavs played without starting guard Dillon Beane and sixth man Josh Brown, both out with a virus. Junior Nathan Ames and freshman Keegan Farnham filled in admirably with Ames hitting a couple of key 3-pointers when Valley pulled away early in the second half.
“I keep telling the guys we have one of the best benches in Class D,” Valley coach Luke Hartwell said. “I said there’s your chance to prove it right now.”
It was Laweryson, though, who made the difference in this one. The left-hander, who is headed to the University of Maine next fall on a baseball scholarship, scored inside and out, depending on the defense he saw. He shot 4-of-6 behind the 3-point arc and dominated inside when called upon.
“This is just a place I’ve played at a lot and I’m starting to get comfortable,” Laweryson said. “Everyone’s starting to get comfortable. We were hitting our shots today.”
Hartwell coached Laweryson in middle school when he played guard.
“What’s really helped him in the last couple of years is he’s grown up to 6-4 now,” Hartwell said. “Once he grew, he had the inside-outside game. He’s very difficult to defend at this level.”
Valley beat Greenville twice during the regular season, by 20 and 19 points, but didn’t take the Lakers lightly especially down a couple of players.
“They’re a very good team and they’re only getting better,” Hartwell said. “We played them back in December and they’ve made tremendous progress. They’re a team that’s going to be a force to be reckoned with next year as they only lose one senior.”
The Lakers switched from man-to-man defense to a 3-2 late in the first quarter and it took the Cavs a while to adjust. They trailed 30-24 at the half after Valley’s Austin Cates scored just before the buzzer. Then in the third quarter, Valley came out firing from the perimeter. They hit five 3-pointers in the first six minutes, two each from Laweryson and Ames and one from Cates and suddenly found themselves up 49-31.
“We always stress in our games about the four minutes at the top of the third quarter,” Hartwell said. “Those first four minutes are so huge as far as the flow of our team.”
The Lakers trailed 51-34 after three quarters but didn’t go away. Sophomore Nick Foley (11 points) opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from the top of the circle and senior Timothy White (10) converted a pair of layups. And the Cavs had a little trouble with Greenville’s pressure as they tried to look for layups.
“We got careless with the basketball at the beginning of the fourth quarter,” Hartwell said. “We’ve got to do a better job of protecting the ball as we get ready for Seacoast.”
Valley senior Collin Miller restored some order with a three-point play and the Cavs hit their free throws down the stretch. Miller struggled around the hoop and finished with just eight points, but he did grab 12 rebounds and played well defensively.
“He’s one of those kids that’s so locked in defensively he controls the boards,” Hartwell said. “He did a great job containing the Degnan (Michael) in the post.”
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