Senior Denzel Valentine of Lansing Sexton knows that his team has the potential to get back to the Breslin, but he doesn’t take getting there lightly and he understands that at anytime a loss could come their way.
“My dad beats it in our heads that We’re not as good as we think we are, we still need to come out there and play every night,” said Valentine. “You never know, you might get beat. Any given night anybody can get beat.”
Coach Carlton Valentine said that every game counts and preparation is what matters most.
“Every game’s big, it’s all about preparation. Victory loves preparation,” said Valentine.
And senior Anthony Clemmons said that no game comes with different preparation, but with the same mindset at all times and the goal of getting better.
“Our game plan is the same every single night. We just try to come out and play the same, if not more energy after every game. We just try to get better after every game,” said Clemmons
With that same game plan, the Big reds were able to clench a share of the CAAC blue title in their 81-39 win against Everett on Tuesday night.
Sexton went on a 15-0 run in the beginning of the first quarter until Everett was able to answer with their first basket with a little under four minutes to go in the first quarter.
By the end of the first, Everett was able to trim the lead by nine, but after a few 3-pointers from sextons Clemmons followed by a 3-pointer by Bryn Forbes in the beginning of the second quarter, Sexton gained a lead that was far too much for the Vikings. Going into the half the Big Reds led the Vikings 53-24.
Coming into the second half Sexton took over with shot after shot increasing the lead to 71-28 almost triple the Vikings points going into the fourth quarter. The Vikings were only able to make 2 field goals in the third quarter.
Clemmons said that with a team like this they had an advantage in size and they used it.
“We try to get inside more, you know their undersized against us, so we try to get to the basket as much as possible instead of settling for outside jumpers,” said Clemmons.
Coach Valentine said that with teams like Everett, its easy to find comfort in a lead, but with veterans on the team who understood that, it was easy for them to keep the momentum up.
“Sometimes when you get a big lead its tough to maintain that intensity, but we have veteran guys, we have guys that have been on varsity three and four years so they understand that you have to have that intensity all the time,” said Valentine.
Ultimately the goal is to get to the Breslin and win another state championship title said Denzel Valentine.
“Our goal is at the end of the year to get to the Breslin,” said Valentine.
And what matters said Valentine, are the pay off games and the team sets up the regular season games for playoffs.
“It matters a little bit what you do in the regular season, but it mainly matters what you do in the playoffs,” said Valentine. “We just try to set our regular season up for the playoffs.”
Junior guard Javon Moore led the Vikings with 12 points. Forbes led Sexton with 16 points and Valentine finished with 13 points.
As Sexton prepares for their next game against Eastern and districts, they plan to do nothing more than what they’ve already done.
“We gone do like we always do practice, watch film, eat pizza and get ready to go,” said Coach Valentine. “We want to make sure that we got the same effort every time we come out.”
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