HAHIRA — Valwood wrapped up the regular season Friday night at the Eager Sports Center on a disappointing note, dropping two contests to Deerfield-Windsor.
The Lady Valiants fell, 68-22, with the Knights winning over Valwood by a narrow 55-52.
The GIAA District 3-AAA tournament was set to start Feb. 12.
Valiants
A 7-0 run by the Knights started the game before Chase Helfter got the Valiants on the board with an old-fashioned three-point play on a made basket. Those were Valwood’s only points for a while as Deerfield-Windsor went on another run for a 16-3 lead with four minutes left.
Helfer and Richard Hunter scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead, and Helfer’s eight point on a triple brought Valwood a bit closer at 16-10.
In the second, a Helfer was assisted by De’Mar Riley and Cort Kurrie to get to within two, though Deerfield had five straight points for a 26-19 lead at the half.
Deerfield-Windsor scored first in the third quarter, but Helfer started a 9-0 run that featured Ethan Owens, Hunter and a second Helfer basket on a Riley steal. The last one had the Valiants down by a single point. Both sides made a 3-pointer, Owens doing the honors for Valwood.
Valwood took a 33-31 lead on a trey by Helfer, but the Knights came back with a 7-0 run. Deerfield made a long three at the buzzer for a 40-35 lead.
Midway through the final frame, Valwood had a 7-0 scoring run, Helfer bringing the Valiants within two points with 3:25 to play.
The Knights went up 48-43 at 1:36. Kurrie came back with a basket. Deerfield missed free throws and Helfer scored two from the stripe to be down a point at 1:14.
With 39.5 seconds left in the game, Deerfield-Windsor hit a heavily guarded 3 pointer to take a 51-47 lead. The Knights forced a turnover, then hit a pair of free throws. Hunter kept Valwood in the game with a 3-pointer and Triston White scored with 4.3 seconds to cut the deficit to 53-52. However, Valwood was forced to foul and Deerfield connected on free throws with 2.2 seconds to win 55-52 after the Valiants missed a long three.
Helfer led with 23 points. Owens scored 8.
Valwood’s regular season ended with a 10-13 mark (3-7 in 3-AAA).
Lady Valiants
Valwood was kept off the scoreboard for the first 10 minutes with the Lady Knights running up 30 points before Bella Shaw scored. Shaw scored the first eight Lady Valiants points, then Emma Burnett got a steal to give Valwood 10.
Carolyn Griner assisted Shaw to get her into double-digits and Valwood trailed 39-13 at intermission.
In the third quarter, Shaw continued to add points, as did Burnett. Lacy Ann McLeod did the other scoring for Valwood in the third and trailed 62-19 at its conclusion. Emma Burnett made a 3-pointer in a shortened fourth period.
Shaw led with 13 points. Burnett had 7 and McLeod added 2. Valwood finished the regular season 5-17.