Valley Quartet in Tune With 91-73 Victory Over Mt. SAC

Having been a jazzy trio for much of the men’s basketball season, the Valley College offense is now more of a rocking quartet.

Center Art Kirksey, playing some of his best basketball to date, is sharing the offensive load with Rick Garrick, Tory Stephens and Russell Baldwin.

They got together for a little jam session Saturday night and beat visiting Mt. San Antonio, 91-73, in the first round of the Southern California regional of the state tournament.

“We’re kind of peaking at the right time,” Valley Coach Jim Stephens said. “It’s a shame that sometimes it takes this long, but we’re blending.”

Point guard Nate Hall is providing some nice backup, and the Valley players are suddenly making beautiful music together, looking happy on the court and playing well.

The 6-foot-4 Kirksey had 16 points and 14 rebounds and continued the strong play that made him the final Western State Conference player of the week.

“Art Kirksey is the difference,” Stephens said. “He’s what’s all of a sudden making us a good basketball team.”

All five starters scored in double figures for Valley (20-12). Stephens led all scorers with 24 points. Baldwin added 22, Garrick chipped in 16, and Hall finished with 11 and 11 assists.

Mt. SAC (13-18), seeded 20th, beat powerful Ventura earlier in the season but stumbled into the tournament having lost seven out of eight conference games in a last-place South Coast Conference campaign.

Mt. SAC promptly stumbled out of the regional with a desultory second-half performance.

After leading, 43-33, at halftime, Valley went on a 17-5 run to move ahead, 60-38, with more than 13 minutes remaining.

A Baldwin layup gave Valley its largest lead, at 73-48, and only a late flurry of Mt. SAC baskets kept the margin under 20.

Valley has won nine of its past 11 games and, after losing its first game in the regional last season, is at the top of its game heading into the second round.

“I just look forward to playing because we’re playing well. We’re going to cause some people problems,” Stephens said. “We can beat anybody on a given night.”

* MOORPARK ELIMINATED: C14