PHOTOS: Valencia off to 10-1 start after defeating Godinez 50-38 in pool play tourney

Valencia was led by (from left) Michael Palacios, Isaiah Arthurton and Andy Hon in a win over Godinez. (Photos Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Valencia’s boys basketball team kept its winning ways going Wednesday night, rallying for a 50-38 victory over Godinez in a pool play game at the Lodinez Tournament.

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The pool play tournament which runs through Saturday, is hosted by Loara and Godinez.

Valencia, 10-1 on the season, notched its second victory in the tournament. The Tigers overcame a seven-point deficit with a strong fourth quarter push.

“After halftime, I think we got down by six or seven and the kids kept grinding,” said Valencia Coach Dean Yoshimura. “We know we’re not going to make a seven-point play but they always chip away, chip away and chip away. We always pride ourselves on defense and to come back in a game, you got to play good defense.”

Valencia was led by Andy Hon and Michael Palacios, who had 11 points each and Isaiah Arthurton, who had 10 points. Ethan Ouyang added five points and eight rebounds.

Godinez (6-4) was led by Joseph Lopez with 11 points and Andrew Valdez who had 11 points each.

The Tigers emphasized containing Valdez, who had been averaging 24 points a game, Yoshimura said.

“That was huge, he’s a good player,” Yoshimura said.

Valdez had a big steal and layup to tie the score 33-33 with 2:45 left but Palacios responded with consecutive 3-pointers to put the Tigers ahead by six and Godinez wasn’t able to recover.

“First, we had to get stops because they came out and punched us in the face the first two minutes of the second half,” said Palacios. “We called a timeout and had to say, ‘this is where we turn it around or we’re going to fold.’ We have a lot of leaders on the team and a lot of leadership, it’s our last season so why not go all out.”

Palacios was excited to be able to hit the key shots in the final stanza.

“My whole life I’ve never been afraid of the big moment,” he said. “If my team needs me to hit shots, I’ll hit shots.”

Godinez Coach Greg Coombs saw some progress by his team, which led 18-17 at halftime.

“That’s a real quality team and that was a good game for us going against a bigger and stronger team,” Coombs said. “We battled them for about three and half quarters and then they hit a couple three’s there and it got away from us a little bit. We’re showing improvement playing against teams like that.”

Christopher Figueroa added eight points for Godinez.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com