Grain Valley uses balanced attack to top Marshall, 66-53

1/12/2022

by Michael Smith

With the way the game was going, Grain Valley boys basketball coach Andy Herbert decided to use three of his bench players in the fourth period.
In Tuesday’s first-round matchup against Marshall in the Pleasant Hill invitational, the veteran coach put his trust in three reserves – Keegan Hart, Rhylan Alcanter, and Reece Troyer to play important minutes with starters Owen Herbert and Nick Hooper.
The decision worked out for the Eagles and Hart especially took advantage as he scored 10 of his 11 points in the final period to help his team run away from the Owls in a 66-53 victory at Pleasant Hill High School.
“He always brings that defensive energy,” Andy Herbert said of Hart. “When you stack offense on top of it, that makes a pretty good player.”
Grain Valley went into the fourth with a 45-37 lead. Hart helped the Eagles keep Marshall at arm’s length with five free throws, a driving layup, and 3-pointer. The Owls got as close as seven points but Hart’s trey midway through the period dropped a dagger on Marshall’s chances of winning as it gave the Eagles their biggest lead at 61-45.
“I know (Coach Herbert) has trust in me,” Hart said. “When he has trust in me, I have faith in myself, too. My teammates have trust in me, too. We have good chemistry.”
He led a balanced scoring attack that saw four other Eagles scored in double digits, led by Avery Garmon with 14, Herbert with 13, Alcanter with 11 and Hooper with 10.
“The good thing about having nine guys who can play is when one guy is struggling, there’s always someone else who can step up,” Andy Herbert said.
While Hart provided a scoring punch in the fourth quarter, Alcanter provided Grain Valley with an interior presence it needed after starting forward Alex Snyder went down with an injury in the first period.
He grabbed several key rebounds for his team and made a couple of reverse layups in the fourth period to help put the game away.
“He’s very strong and athletic,” Andy Herbert said. “He’s relentless and he goes. His role expanded quite a bit when Alex got hurt. It’s good to have two posts that are active and athletic. We were averaging about 19 points from both of our posts. That’s pretty good.”
Added Alcanter: “I always got to be ready for the opportunity. There was an opportunity, and I took it. There are still some things I need to work on. But when I go in, I am going to try and do the things Coach wants me to do.”
The Eagles (5-6) held a 15-13 advantage after one period with Herbert guiding the offense with a trio of 3-pointers.
Hooper then scored eight of his 10 points in the second period to help the Eagles expand the lead to 31-23 at halftime. Garmon helped keep his team afloat with 11 third-period points as it went into the fourth up 45-37.
Alcanter and Hart helped take over from there.