CARBONDALE – Eli Yusavage scored 21 points and Valley View’s defense smothered Carbondale early on the way to a 66-34 rout of the host Chargers in the Thursday night’s championship game of the 50th Pete Turonis/NBT Bank Classic.
Yusavage and fellow all-tournament selection L.V. Pegula split duties leading the offense as Valley View broke the game open in the first half. Then, after Carbondale used pressure defense to try to battle back in the third quarter, Yusavage made sure the Cougars closed out their Chargers, ruining their perfect record.
The win was the third straight by at least 28 points for Valley View (7-1) and the second straight against a team that had been unbeaten coming in.
“This is the same team we have coming back from last year, so we have a lot of team chemistry,” Yusavage said.
Yusavage and Pegula, who finished with 15 points, each scored 5 points in the first quarter as Valley View took a 14-7 lead.
Taheed Jewell had 5 of his 10 points while Yusavage and Pegula added 4 each in the second quarter.
The Cougars held the Chargers to four points in the quarter and held Carbondale all-tournament representative Jaymire Allen scoreless in the quarter after allowing him just a 3-pointer in the first quarter.
“Jay Allen is a tremendous player,” Valley View coach Mike Kurpis said. “He’s skilled both inside and out so we tried to run a lot of people at him.
“I think our defense was excellent in the first half.”
Allen, who came in averaging more than 21 points per game, finished with 10 to lead the Chargers.
Carbondale scored seven straight in the third quarter to get within 37-20, but Valley View settled down and stopped the comeback before it gained any more momentum.
“We just had to slow it down a little bit,” Yusavage said. “Carbondale was trying to speed us up because we had a big lead at half. We just had to take a deep breath and break the press. As soon as we took that deep breath, we were able to break the press and get some layups.”
Kurpis agreed, crediting Yusavage and Pegula with making that possible.
“We just had to slow the pace,” the coach said. “Luckily, we’re a senior-laden team. Eli and L.V. really took control and got us some easy baskets.”
Yusavage had seven points during a 9-0 run to a 60-32 lead. He then added a 3-pointer before the Cougars starters exited with a 29-point lead with 2:29 left.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was created from the reporting of Ben Magnotta, who also supplied the above team photo.
MORE TURONIS CLASSIC COVERAGE
Consolation game story: Mid Valley’s Nemitz reaches 1,000 – NEPA Sports Nation.
Semifinal recap: Allen leads charge as Carbondale moves into final with Valley View – NEPA Sports Nation.
