Girls hoops: Valley Christian outlasts Maricopa down the stretch

December 30, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365



Valley Christian's girls basketball team is used to winning its own tournament, but got a bonus this year by winning against a largely tougher field.

Wednesday afternoon's title game against defending Division II state champ Maricopa was an example. The Lady Trojans gave up a large first-half  lead and held their own in the final minutes to edge Maricopa, 49-43, to cap three long days of play at its annual Christmas Tournament at Valley Christian High.

Valley Christian improved to 14-1 and won the tourney for the ninth year in a row. Maricopa, which defeated Tempe, Poston Butte, Snowflake and Holbrook to advance to the final ,heads to the new year 12-4.

"This is one of the toughest fields we've had," Valley Christian coach Scott Timmer said. "This one was called very tight and tight both ways. It was a battle. They had some good shots near the end that didn't go in. It could have gone either way."

Valley Christian, which beat St. Mary's, Buckeye, Window Rock and a gritty, defensive-minded Palos Verdes (CA) team to reach the final, needed the offensive skills of point guard Anna Gorman to pull it out. Gorman was consistent in her game throughout scoring a game-high 25 points. Ten of those points came in the final period. Easy baskets were hard to come by and Gorman weaved her way around and through defenders for three big baskets in the fourth quarter as well as 4 of-4 free throws. Her final two free throws -- along with two from Angie Andreas -- improved a 45-43 lead with one minute left to a more palatable six with nine seconds to play.

"Anna is a special player," Timmer said. "She's offense-minded, and we give her the green light. She made things happen scoring or creating some chances."

Megan Timmer supplied some complementary offense with 13 points and battled Maricopa's Ragene Womack in the paint most of the game. Womack worked hard for her 12 points as she and Timmer dueled to a standstill.

"I was proud of how Megan played," Timmer said of his daughter. "Womack is very athletic. It was a good matchup to watch."

Maricopa, which trailed 25-14 with three minutes left in the first half, managed to rally for a 31-29 lead late in the third. At that point VC turned in an 11-0 run that should have put Maricopa away with 6:20 to play.

But perimeter threat Danae Ruiz, who battled foul trouble in the second half, sanke two of her four threes in the final quarter to cut the lead to 42-38 with three minutes left. Ruiz finished with 16 points.Womack's putback with one minute pulled Marcicopa within 45-43. A VC turnover gave Maricopa the chance to tie or take the lead with under 30 seconds left. Ruiz missed a makeable jumper and Womack couldn't convert a putback. Andreas grabbed the rebound after Womack's miss, was fouled and hit free throws that led to the close out.

Valley Christian and Maricopa combined for six of the 10 spots on the all-tournament team. Gorman, Timmer, Andreas and Kaitlyn Bellerson were chosen for VC while Womack and Ruiz were Maricopa's honorees.