The Carson Valley Middle School seventh-grade boys' basketball team dug itself out of an early hole against cross-town rival Pau-Wa-Lu Tuesday afternoon and later held off a strong Panther run to clinch a 30-19 victory at home.
The Tigers (3-2) fell back 5-0 early on as the Panthers built a lead on baskets from Teddy Mason and Lepoleon Rose.
Austin Evans hit a layup at 3:22 to get Carson Valley on the board, though, and baskets from AJ Pfaffenberger and Brandon Pankey propelled the Tigers to a 6-5 lead over the next two minutes.
Mason scored with 42 seconds left in the first to put Pau-Wa-Lu back up 7-6, but Pankey put Carson Valley up for good with a basket at the 14-second mark.
Pankey led the Tigers in the game with 11 points while Pfaffenberger had nine and Evans added eight.
The Tigers clamped down on defense through the second quarter and well into the third, posting a clean shutout, while pushing the score to 16-9.
Pau-Wa-Lu did its part defensively too, shutting out Carson Valley through the first four minutes of the third.
Pau-Wa-Lu's Dalton Grisell broke the scoring drought for both teams with 2:28 remaining in the third, but Carson Valley came back with a basket to push the score to 18-9.
Mason brought the Panthers within seven though and Pau-Wa-Lu nearly closed it to five but had a basket at the buzzer wiped off the scoreboard because the shot came too late.
The Panthers put together a strong push early in the fourth with a 6-0 run keyed by a pair of baskets from Hale Fillmore and another Mason basket.
With the score set at 20-17 with 4:08 remaining, Carson Valley regrouped to go on a 10-2 run to close out the game.
Carson Valley shut Pau-Wa-Lu out through the first quarter and half of the second to cruise to a big win over the Panthers.
The Tigers got a number of baskets from Conner Greth, Michael Nolting, Jake Passes, Hunter Myers and Christian Arzadon to build a 20-0 lead that the Panthers wouldn't be able to recover from.
Pau-Wa-Lu's Dylan Wilson hit a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the first half to get the Panthers on the board and Joseph Syammach had a basket with 11 seconds left in the half but Carson Valley took the 28-5 lead into the locker rooms and didn't look back.
The Tigers also got baskets from Nolan Sheets and Cody Thomas in the first half on their way to the big lead.
Wilson and Syammach each had 3-pointers in the second half for Pau-Wa-Lu and Jaden Mustacchio had another basket, but Carson Valley shut the Panthers out over the final seven minutes of the game for the win.
Nolan Weintz and EJ Rose each had four points for the Tigers in the second half.
