Spring Valley girls win Gator Winter Classic diamond title again
Spring Valley girls basketball coach Billy Hemberger was, of course, delighted that his team won the Gator Winter Classic.
He was equally as relieved.
The Grizzlies survived a virtuoso performance from Dimond (Alaska) senior Alissa Pilo and clinched the tournament’s diamond bracket championship for the second consecutive year with a 66-54 win over the Lynx at Green Valley.
Pilo, who handles the ball like a point guard, shoots it like a two-guard and is built like a center, scored 44 points, including all 36 of her team’s second-half points, to will Dimond back from a 17-point halftime deficit.
But Spring Valley pulled away when Pilo fouled out in the final minutes.
“We made it way too difficult on ourselves,” Hemberger said. “I’m happy we’re never going to have to play against her again. Winning this tournament, though, just being that back-to-back (champions) — we love this tournament and we defended it. … We proved that we have a deep team and that we have the players that can do it.”
The Grizzlies (10-5) had battled injuries all season, but were healthy for the Gator Winter Classic and won five games to earn a showdown with the Lynx. They used a multitude of defenders to slow Pilo in the first half and built a 35-18 halftime lead with crisp ball movement against Dimond’s 2-3 zone.
But they couldn’t stop her in a third quarter in which she scored 25 points.
“Unreal,” Hemberger said. “She was just dominant.”
The Grizzlies countered with a barrage of baskets before Pilo fouled out and made 10 free throws to pull away late. Freshman standout Aaliyah Gayles led Spring Valley with 23 points and had two crucial baskets in the final minutes.
“I saw we were down. There was a good player on the other team,” Gayles said. “It’s good competition. I realized we needed to win this game. I felt like I needed to turn my game on.”
Ella Zanders scored 10 for the Grizzlies. No other Dimond player scored more than four.
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Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
