Valley can’t capitalize on chances as Carter leads Indiana to double-OT victory

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 | 5:11 PM

Indiana coach Greg Lezanic admits he can get caught up watching Carlos Carter play.

And it's difficult to blame him.

Carter scored 35 points — including all nine in the second overtime — and collected 20 rebounds as the first-place Little Indians grinded out a 68-64 victory before a large crowd at Valley High School.

The victory solidified Indiana's grip atop Section 1-4A with a 6-0 mark. The Indians (13-1) are ranked fourth by Trib Total Media this week. Valley (8-3, 5-2) saw its six-game winning streak end. The Vikings are ranked fifth in Class 4A.

“He can take over a game on both ends of the floor,” Lezanic said. “He sure is fun to watch, and sometimes I get caught up watching him like everybody else. He had some schools here tonight watching him, and he deserves everything that he gets.”

Said Carter: “It was a lot of struggle out there tonight, but we knew had it all the way, honestly. We came down to the end, and we put the ball in the hoop.”

Valley had a chance to win the game twice.

After Carter drove to the hoop to tie the score at 55-55 with 1 minute, 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Valley had possession, but a shot by Darius Johnson fell short as time ran out.

In the first overtime, Valley's Nyjewel Carter tied the score with 1:22 to go, setting up a bizarre ending to the first extra session.

Carter was fouled gliding through the key with 1.6 seconds left. He missed both free throws but leaped toward Deonte Ross who gathered the rebound on the second miss.

Carter fouled Ross, but Ross missed the free throw with no time remaining.

“I couldn't be more thankful for the support our kids had from our community tonight,” Vikings coach Mark Faulx said. “Those opportunities to win at the end of those two periods really would have been special.”

Ross stole the ball to give Valley a quick lead in the second overtime. Nyjewel Carter's 3-pointer gave the Vikings a 64-61 lead, but Carlos Carter came right back 16 seconds later to tie the score.

Carlos Carter's tip-in with 57 seconds left in the second overtime gave Indiana the lead for good at 66-64.

“I was really proud of our guys for playing so hard for so long,” Faulx said. “Before the game, I knew this was a necessary type of game we have to play in to get to where we want to be. We grew as a team tonight.”

Valley tried to tie the score, but Carlos Carter picked off Alex Ward's pass near the hoo p.“You're always not going to have everything go well for you,” Lezanic said. “It just seemed like the ball always bounced their way tonight, not because they were lucky but because they were hustling. After the first overtime, our guys decided to just go out and win this game.”

Carlos Carter said: “We had a mentality going into this game that we've just got to win. This is our game. All night we were putting up great shots, but a lot of them weren't falling early. We came down to the end, and we put the ball in the hoop.”

Dru Stokes led Valley with 21 points, including nine in the third quarter as the Vikings erased the Little Indians' 28-20 halftime advantage. Ross had 10 rebounds.

Tom Arbuckle, playing despite a viral infection, scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Indiana, Valley