Jones Leads Walker Valley Past Baylor, 67-50

The Baylor Red Raiders played their first basketball game of the season on Tuesday night in the friendly confines of Jimmy Duke Arena, but they came out on the short end of a 67-50 verdict against the Walker Valley Mustangs.

With only two days of practice under their belts involving everyone including football players, there are still a bunch of unanswered questions, but on a night when head coach Austin Clark was away dealing with medical issues, veteran assistant Bill Cox was the man in charge.

"It's our first game and we've now had two practices, so we're still in the learning process," Cox said following the game.

"I thought that Walker Valley executed better than we did and they shot the ball well, but we didn't make enough shots to keep it close.  They hit a few 3s early and they made their free throws.  We're young with only one returning starter, so we're still trying to figure out roles and we're just trying to get better for later on down the road," he added.

Patrick Urey scored on a drive down the lane in the opening minute for a 2-0 Baylor lead, but Bryce Nunnelly scored on a putback before Kolten Gibson bagged a 3 and the Mustangs never trailed again.

Beyuan Hendrix had a steal and layup to get Baylor within 5-4 with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, but the Mustangs then scored eight of the next nine points and were never really threatened again.

A 17-9 lead when the quarter swelled to 26-16 midway through the second on a 3 by Wes Wagner and a layup from Gibson, but Baylor got back-to-back 3s from Alex Duke and Lorenzo White and a nice inside bucket from Gage Upshaw to get within 26-24 with 2:25 left in the half before the Mustangs finished on a 7-2 run for a 33-26 lead at intermission.

The difference was 46-35 when the fourth quarter began as the Mustangs slowly pulled away.  The biggest lead of the game came in the final minute at 67-47 following a pair of free throws from Nathan Zakkas.

Walker Valley coach knows that it's never easy to win games on the road and especially in Baylor's gym where the Red Raiders normally do pretty well.

He was just happy to be headed home with a win.

"It's always tough playing here and that's why we like coming here, but I can promise you that Baylor will be a tough team to beat after Christmas.  We're still trying to figure out our roles, but overall, I'm pleased with our effort tonight," he said after a short post-game talk with his players.

"We were able to penetrate and get some good shots in the lane and we were able to make a few shots.  We've never shot well here, but maybe the lid was off the basket tonight.  We really didn't know what to expect with this being their first game, but I liked the way we played," he added.

Josh Jones scored eight points in the fourth quarter and finished with 21, which was high for both teams.

Gibson was also in double figures with 16 while Nunnelly followed with eight.

Urey was the only Baylor player in double figures as he finished with 15.  Tre Jackson and Upshaw added six each.

Walker Valley will host Cleveland on Friday in its first district game of the year while Baylor returns to action on December 8 with a road game at Brainerd.

BAYLOR GIRLS 50, WALKER VALLEY 48: Kaleigh Clemons is no stranger to being in a pressure-packed situation, so she didn't bat an eye when she went to the free throw line in the last minute of the game with the score tied at 48.

Clemons calmly swished both shots and finished with 14 points as Baylor improved to 5-1 with the two-point win over the Lady Mustangs.

While Clemons was the Baylor scoring leader, teammates Grace Wardeberg and Abby Hubert were also in double figures as they followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Kathleen Alomar was tops for Walker Valley as she finished with 18 points while teammate Lauren Lay was next with 13.  CyCy White added nine.

GIRLS SUMMARY 

WALKER VALLEY 11  9  15  13  --  48

BAYLOR  13  13  17  7 --  50

WALKER VALLEY (48) -- L. Lay 13, Walker, White 9, Anderson 2, Spann, Clark, C. Lay, Jones 6, Alomar 18.

BAYLOR (50) -- Clemons 14, Lindsey 4, Huckabay 2, Hayes, Hubert 12, Wardeberg 13, Long 5, Craig.

3-POINT GOALS: Walker Valley 8 (L. Lay 3, White 2, Alomar 3), Baylor 9 (Clemons 4, Hubert, Wardeberg 3, Long).

BOYS SUMMARY

WALKER VALLEY  17  16  13  21  --  67

BAYLOR  9  17  9  15 --  50

WALKER VALLEY (67) -- Wagner 3, Gibson 16, Zakkas 2, Melton 3, Eslinger 2, Murphy 5, Nunnelly 8, Jones 21, Buntin 7, Swafford.

BAYLOR (50) -- Sneed 2, Jackson 6, Hendrix 2, Whaley 3, Duke 5, Upshaw 6, Baker, Wolfe 3, White 3, Harris 5, Simpkins, Urey 15.

3-POINT GOALS: Walker Valley 5 (Wagner, Gibson 2, Melton, Jones); Baylor 3 (Duke, Wolfe, White).

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)