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Peoria survives fouls, threes to defeat Deer Valley in OT

Posted 1/19/20

Eventually, Peoria freshman point guard Andrew Camacho made enough free throws to ensure Deer Valley would not be able to tie on another Jackson Leyba three pointer.

 

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Peoria survives fouls, threes to defeat Deer Valley in OT

Posted

Eventually, Peoria freshman point guard Andrew Camacho made enough free throws to ensure Deer Valley would not be able to tie on another Jackson Leyba three pointer.

Leyba knotted the game at 54 with two seconds left regulation by hitting his sixth trey of the night - from at least 25 feet out and off the dribble.

Hampered without senior leading scorer Isaac Monroe and junior big man Kevin Kogbara, the Panthers put the game in the hands of their freshman. Camacho hit four free throws and a layup to put Peoria up 63-57 in overtime, and finished 10-10 on free throws of the extra frame to seal the 75-69 win on Jan. 14.

"Yes he's a high school freshman but he's played basketball for most of his life. His maturity to come in and stay composed was impressive. They got a technical foul and I sent him to the line because of the confidence I had in him. He didn't miss a free throw down the stretch," Peoria interim coach Patrick Batillo said.

The win began a big week for Peoria, which beat 4A #8 Deer Valley, then No. 13 Desert Edge 67-62 Jan. 16 and #6 Buckeye 63-55 Jan. 17.

Camacho followed up his 27-point game against Deer Valley with 22 two days later hosting Desert Edge.

By the time Camacho emerged in overtime, Leyba had made the night his own. He hit five from long range in the first half and seven overall en route to a game-high 30 points.

"Jackson is a bad bad boy. He has been shooting it really well for the past month or so," Deer Valley coach Jed Dunn said.

The Skyhawks took a 29-26 lead at half as Monroe picked up four fouls. Kogbara was whistled for his third before a point was scored in the third quarter.

With the visitors compromised, Deer Valley built a 40-28 lead in the third quarter. But in the final two minutes, reserve sophomore guard Shamar Moore scored five points to draw the Panthers within five.

"We were in foul trouble and we had a lot of unique rotations we had to execute. Shamar came in and stepped up huge, especially in that second half," Battillo said. "DeAndre ... I continue to say how underrated he is. Whatever he needs to do he's there to do. Losing Kevin and Isaac to foul trouble changed the dynamic but it didn't stop what we do."

Petty scored the first two Peoria buckets of the fourth quarter and held things together while the lineup shuffled.

The 5-10 guard again played much bigger, finishing the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Peoria upped its full-court pressure and fought back until Camacho's bucket gave the visitors a 47-46 lead with 2:17 left.

Dunn said the team will learn from its mistakes and will take to heart the phrase they have repeated during the season - everything matters. In this case, the Skyhawks' leader said, it started with him.

"It was tough loss but a great game with two really good teams. I take full responsibility for the loss because I began coaching angry once our 12-point lead went away," Dunn said.

The West Valley Region rivals battled back and forth throughout the final two minutes until Leyba's shot sent it to overtime.

Peoria is now atop the region. Now with an 11-0 regular season record after its big week, the team is ranked #4 in 4A.

"They are an elite program and we have great respect for them. We came in knowing this would be a dogfight," Battillo said. "This definitely was a huge win for our program."

As tough as the defeat was for Deer Valley, Dunn said his young team is ahead of schedule. Junior point guard John Gaines has given the team a boost since moving in from Michigan.

The Skyhawks remain in position for a 4A bye despite Leyba being the only regular returning from last season's state runner up.

"We are better defensively this year. We need to get more organized offensively down the stretch to help close out games. Our three losses came against really good teams. This team could surprise some folks in the playoffs," Dunn said.