FULLERTON – The regular season has its challenges.
Friday night’s game for Valencia’s boys basketball team threw a wrinkle at the Tigers, as they were forced to play for three quarters without starting point guard Brian Chen.
The Tigers passed the test with a big fourth-quarter effort to defeat Troy, 55-47, in a nonleague battle at Troy High.
Milan Patel scored eight points in the final frame as Valencia (14-2) outscored the Warriors, 18-8, over the final six minutes.
Brennon Palmer had a game-high 18 points with seven rebounds and two blocks for the Tigers, and Jordan Jenkins added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Chen left the game late in the first quarter after experiencing irritation in his eye. That forced the Tigers to play the 6-5 Jenkins and 6-6 Toby Okpala at the point for large stretches of the game.
Tigers coach Dean Yoshimura said the game had the feel of a league contest.
“In league games, sometimes things don’t go your way,” he said. “Our point guard got hurt, and then we started turning the ball over. We just grinded it out, played good defense and hit some big shots.”
Valencia carried the play in the first half. The Tigers used dribble penetration to get Troy guards Jason Choi and Aaron Yoo in foul trouble. Choi, the Warriors’ top offensive option, was held to one point through two quarters.
The Tigers led, 23-16, at halftime.
Troy’s offense came to life in the third quarter. Five players scored as Troy (10-7) put up 20 points and cut its deficit to one entering the fourth quarter.
The Warriors got nine points in the first half from Matt Mickle, and he continued to deliver for them in the fourth. His 3-pointer with 6:20 left gave Troy a 39-37 edge.
The lead was short-lived. Palmer and Patel answered with layups to put Valencia back on top. Later in the frame, Eric Yang drilled a jumper from the corner to extend the Tigers’ advantage to 48-44.
“We can score from any angle,” Palmer said, adding that several of his teammates could carry the load offensively. “It just happened to be me tonight.”
Mickle finished with a game-high 17 points.
Troy had a chance to tie the score late in the game. Trailing 50-47 with just under a minute to go, Mickle rose up from the wing, but his 3-point try didn’t fall.
Valencia has won eight of nine heading into Empire League play.
