Spring Valley (SC) held off East Carteret (NC) for a 65-62 opening round game win in the 2014 Beach Ball Classic at the Myrtle Beach (SC) Convention Center.
Spring Valley (5-5; Columbia, SC) led by as many as 13 points before East Carteret (7-1; Beaufort, NC) stormed back to tie the game at 60-60 with just 1:08 remaining in regulation. Trailing 48-36 with 9:01 to play, East Carteret knotted the score at 53-53 with 5:00 to play on a 3-pointer by Jacque Brown. Spring Valley regained teh lead and took a 60-55 advantage on PJ Dozier’s old fashioned three-point play with 1:59 on the clock.
A 3-point basket by Trevor Willis and a pair of free throws by Ty Simmons would again tie the game at 60-60 with just 1:08 to play in regulation. Dozier again gave teh Vikings the lead on an offensive rebound and tip-in 17 seconds later. Dozier then connected on a pair of free throws with 27 seconds to play to push the Spring Valley lead to four at 64-60. East Carteret’s Brown connected on a short jumper in the lane to again close the gap to two points. Dozier then missed on three straight free throws before hitting one with eight seconds to play to give the Vikings a 65-62 cushion. Brown’s off-balanced 3-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out to end the game.
Dozier, who has signed to play at the University of South Carolina, paced Spring Valley with 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists amd six steals. Noah Harper added 15 points for the Vikings.
East Carteret was led with 17 points each by Brown and Trevor Willis. Brown also added six assists.
