By Paul Gotham
BUFFALO, N.Y. – More than seven minutes remained in the first half of Monday night’s matchup between the Canisius Golden Griffins and South Dakota Coyotes when Jordan Heath joined his frontcourt mate Chris Manhertz on the pine with two fouls.
A feeling of discomfort had to exist on the Canisius sidelines with both starting forwards sitting on the bench. The same scenario caused problems and led to more than a couple of losses a year ago.
It was in that moment when the Golden Griffins might have found a contributor.
Forced to go to his bench, Jim Baron deployed Josiah Heath and Phil Valenti. Valenti nearly stole the show. By the end of the half, the 6-7 forward had corralled nine rebounds and scored six points.
“He’s a high energy guy,” said Baron. “He’s a live body…He makes uncanny plays. He gets his hands on the ball. He forces turnovers. He’s a very active player. I love guys like that.”
Valenti entered the game earlier when Jordan Heath committed his first foul. The redshirt sophomore wasted little time making an impact. He followed a Chris Perez miss in transition and finished at the rim. Moments later he converted another rebound and putback to give the Griffs what would be their largest lead of the game, 21-12.
His first shift for the Blue and Gold lasted little more than four minutes. The redshirt sophomore collected five rebounds and tallied four points.
“We’re going to need him to do that,” Baron said referring to the future. “Especially coming off the bench, we know we are going to get our guys in foul trouble.”
Valenti returned at the 7:25 mark. He chased down his own miss along the baseline and found Perez on the opposite side of the floor for a catch-and-shoot three. The basket stopped a 7-0 Coyote run.
“Coming off the bench, you have to bring energy,” Valenti stated. “Coach always tells me to bring energy and play defense. It was nice to get on the boards and make some plays.”
He gave the Griffs a 27-24 lead with a basket in traffic.
He continued the momentum after the break.
Valenti entered the second half at the 16:31 mark and quickly fed Jordan Heath with a hi-lo pass for a dunk. At the other end of the floor, he alertly took away the lane to the basket and forced a travel.
His teammates took notice. Co-captain Billy Baron made note of his play and especially a no-look pass Valenti made.
“I was shocked that he threw it because I knew he couldn’t see me. When he threw it, I was like wow! He’s ready to make plays.”
Billy Baron led the way with 27 points in the 71-66 Canisius victory. Jordan Heath added 12 points and eight rebounds. Manhertz and Perez both made big plays in the game’s final moments. Valenti, though, helped the Griffs to that point. It is hard to imagine Canisius beating South Dakota without Valenti’s input.
“He was extremely active today,” Billy Baron commented. “Phil stepped up, and he showed what we’re going to need for the rest of the year.”
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a USA Today Contributor and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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