Hart Falls a Shot Short of Valencia

You know it’s not your night when, a) your top scorer shows up to the game ill; b) you commit 30 turnovers; c) a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer is prevented by a teammate; d) all of the above.

It all happened to the Hart High girls’ basketball team on Friday night in a 55-53 Foothill League loss to defending champion Valencia at Valencia.

Freshman Brandi Kimble made a free throw with one second left to pull Hart to within one point and intentionally missed the second, which was rebounded by teammate Whitney Downen, who scored 11 points.

In the frenzy, Downen couldn’t get off a shot through the maze of teammates’ arms.

The buzzer set off a wild celebration by the Vikings (16-3, 3-0 in league play), who defeated the region’s No. 4-ranked team for the third consecutive time. Valencia faces No. 5 Saugus next week for first place.

“This was as nice as nice gets,” said Coach Jerry Mike of Valencia, who knew he was going to have to sweat this one out.

In the first quarter, he removed his jacket. By the third quarter, his tie was off. In the fourth, his dress shirt was unbuttoned.

“It was wild,” he said. “If this had gone overtime, I was going to leave.”

Marissa Meadows scored 20 points, Rashae Minor had 12, Stephanie Patterson added 10.

Holly Feneht added nine points and harassed Amanda Patton of Hart in Valencia’s diamond-and-one defense.

Patton, the Indians’ high-scoring sophomore guard, missed practice with an illness on Thursday and struggled against the tenacious Feneht.

“We knew everything operates through her,” Feneht said of Patton, who scored 10 points but made only one of three shots. “We wanted to throw a little chaos into the mix.”

Hart (13-4, 2-1) made 14 of 16 free throws and 19 of 43 shots (44.2%).

Valencia was 10 of 18 from the line and 21 for 59 (35.6%) from the field.

The difference was Hart’s season-high 30 turnovers.

“You cannot turn the ball over 30 times,” Coach Dave Munroe of Hart said. “I’m surprised the game was as close as it was.”

Valencia led, 28-20, at halftime and extended the lead to 10 points before the Indians twice mounted rallies, both times closing to within two points.

On both occasions, the Vikings pulled away with three-point baskets by Minor, a surprise since Valencia made only nine three-pointers in its first 18 games.

Until last season, Hart dominated the league, winning seven consecutive championships.

“It’s our turn to dominate,” Feneht said of Valencia, which has won eight consecutive games. “We want to dominate for the next decade.”