The nationally-ranked Penn Valley Scouts held off a furious second-half rally by the North Central Missouri College Pirates for a 105-101 victory in Region XVI play on Saturday afternoon in Trenton.
Penn Valley, using a lightning quick pace and dead-eye three-point shooting in the first half, held a ten point lead at the break, and spent most of the second half with the lead in the lower to middle teens.
The Pirates, paced by Jalen Gant, Demetrius Houston, and Major Finley, got close, but could not overtake the Scouts in the final three minutes of regulation.
Tyrin Harris led Penn Valley with 24 points, James Byrd had 21, Malik Barnett 20, Austin Johnson 14, and Trevor Lamb 13. Â The win completes a superb seven-day stretch for Marcus Harvey’s team, with Penn Valley winning on back-to-back Saturdays at St. Louis and North Central, with a win against Division 1, top-10 ranked Moberly in between. Â PVCC is now 16-4 overall and 2-0 in Region XVI play.
The Pirates, dropping to 9-6 overall, and 1-1 in Region XVI play, had Jalen Gant with 25 points, 19 from Demetrius Houston, 16 points each from Ryan Ward and Major Finley each with 16, and Dee Scruggs with 10 points. Â
