After closing its regular season with a rout of Haddam-Killingworth on Feb. 23, the Valley boys’ basketball team tipped off against the Cougars again just five days later with even more at stake in the quarterfinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament. Although H-K gave the Warriors a much tighter game, the result remained the same as the Warriors jumped out to a 10-point lead after the first quarter and went on to earn a 62-53 victory in Deep River on Feb. 28.

Valley Regional, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, improved to 16-5 and will host Hyde in the semifinals on Tuesday, March 3. With a victory there, the Warriors would face the winner of Coginchaug and Old Lyme for the Shoreline crown at Wilbur Cross High School on Friday, March 6. This marks Valley’s sixth straight appearance in the semifinal round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament—which the Warriors won two years ago.

Coach Kevin Woods was certainly pleased to see his team begin its playoff conquest on the right foot and feels good about how his team has performed in its last few games—especially on the all-important defensive end of the court.

“We wanted to start the tournament off on a positive note and get the win, no matter how. With the contributions we’ve been getting, I think we’re in good shape to be successful in the postseason and I really like our chances in Shorelines and states, as well,” Woods said. “The reason we’ve been in this position with six times in the semis and three in the finals is because of our defense. There are nights when you don’t have your best shooting performance, but if you bring your defense every night and hold the other team to less than 50 points, you have a great shot to win.”

Valley held the No. 8 seed Cougars (10-11) to just five points in the first quarter while scoring 15 to take a 10-point command into the second. H-K had a slight advantage of 16-14 in the second, although the Warriors were still up by eight at 29-21 heading to halftime. Woods’s club maintained the advantage through the second half—never leading by more than 12 and never allowing H-K to get closer than seven.

Senior center Hunter Linfesty put together a top-notch performance by scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. David Bradbury scored 12; fellow senior captain guard Chris Jean-Pierre had 11 points to go with 10 assists, six boards, and two steals; and junior forward Nash Eppard chipped in with 11 points for Valley.

“Our bigs played very good. Hunter stepped up and had a huge game, Nash was a force inside and played tough defense, and [senior center] Alex Cassells gave us great minutes off the bench with some huge blocks and put-backs,” said Woods. “It was ultimately our inside presence that won the game for us. No doubt about it. All of it—the scoring, the rebounding, and the defense.”

Earlier in the week, Valley had gained a 72-41 at Haddam-Killingworth on the Cougars’ Senior Night. The Warriors led 9-6 through one quarter and 25-17 at the half before running away with the victory in the latter half. Valley outscored H-K 17-9 in the third quarter and 30-16 in the fourth for the lopsided win. Linfesty scored 21 points and had six rebounds with a steal; Bradbury scored 17 and handed out 10 assists; Eppard had eight points with nine boards and two steals; and Jean-Pierre scored seven and added three steals with four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Also contributing off the bench were Cassells (7 points, 4 rebounds); junior forward Kelvin Peterson (5 points); junior guard Garrett Hines (3 rebounds, 3 assists); senior center Brennan Joy (3 points); sophomore guard Ryan Kelly (2 points); senior forward Justin Cheverier (2 points); senior forward Phil Dee; and freshman guard Brian Tonks (1 steal).

The Warriors clinched the top seed in the Shoreline bracket by virtue of this victory.

“We absolutely wanted the No. 1 seed in Shorelines and wanted the regular season championship, even though it’s not recognized. It’s still important and it took four years of hard work to get to that point,” Coach Woods said. “It was the culmination of a lot of things coming together at the end of the regular season.”

When the Shoreline Tournament is finished, Valley will open play in the Class S State Tournament on Tuesday, March 10. The tourney concludes at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on either Saturday, March 21 or Sunday, March 22. The Warriors lost to Sacred Heart in last year’s Class S final, beat Weston for the title in 2013, and defeated Classical Magnet for the crown in 2011.