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Falcon boys honor fallen teammate in district victory

Tuesday's game was Fayette first since losing Cash Valencia in tragic accident

Kevin Oeth, Sports Editor
Posted 2/24/21

In normal times, the first game of high school district basketball action is an exciting time, especially for the seniors. Each game could possibly spell the end of their careers on the hardwood. But …

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Falcon boys honor fallen teammate in district victory

Tuesday's game was Fayette first since losing Cash Valencia in tragic accident

Posted

In normal times, the first game of high school district basketball action is an exciting time, especially for the seniors. Each game could possibly spell the end of their careers on the hardwood. But Tuesday’s district opener between third-seeded Fayette and sixth-seeded South Shelby held a significantly deeper meaning for the Falcons, who were playing their first game since losing a teammate.

Fayette won 84-71 and will advance to the second round of the tournament. The game, however, was secondary to the impact it had on 25 boys, four coaches, a family, and a community.

Entering the building, one could sense the sorrow felt by everyone from the ticket takers to the concession workers. Behind masks, individuals were even harder to recognize with eyes that had been shedding tears for the better part of three days. The crying was not soon to be over.

The gym itself was perhaps the quietest it had ever been—the only noise was the squeaking of shoes on the hardwood and the sound of basketballs being dribbled and hitting the rim or the swish of them going through the net as the Falcons and South Shelby Cardinals prepared to play. The normal joking and carrying-on that is commonplace during basketball pregame was nonexistent. Players from both squads felt the impact of the death of a young Kevin Cash Valencia.

The Falcons honored their teammate by making sure his No. 3 jersey hung on an empty seat on the Fayette bench, along with his shoes, his clipboard, and a bag of popcorn. It seems Cash was somewhat of a popcorn connoisseur making sure that no matter where the game was, he sampled that venue’s popcorn offering. The Falcons felt it an appropriate way of honoring him. 

Oftentimes during the varsity season, a Falcon would forget he was wearing a chain around his neck during warmups. They would disappear into the locker room after pregame only to emerge ready to play. At that point, a referee, coach, or teammate would spot the chain and have them remove it for safety reasons. Cash, a junior varsity player who helped keep statistics for the varsity team, would be the recipient of the chain and would wear the chain around his neck, sometimes giving him somewhat of a Mr. T look during some games. Tuesday night, several chains adorned the memorial on the bench.

 Instead of their normal black warmup jerseys, the Falcons wore white, long-sleeve t-shirts adorned with the team’s motto, “Together is Power,” on the front, and “Valencia” on the back along with Cash’s familiar No. 3.

Players from the Fayette team approached the game in different ways, many participated in quietly shooting without the familiar banter. Some would shoot, then silently walk to the bench, sit for a moment, then go shoot again. Others sat on the bench, bowing their heads or staring into space, contemplating the moment.

“It has been a very emotional three days,” said Fayette coach Jon Bishop. “Our team, our school, our students, teachers, and community have been through a lot. Tonight, our guys played with great focus every quarter.”

Soon, game time was upon them and they had to complete the task before them. The Falcons took the first-quarter lead by outscoring the Cardinals 15-9. Junior Dalton Collins set the tone early by scoring the first eight Falcon points. Fayette bumped their lead to seven points by halftime.

“We tried some different defenses in the second quarter,” Bishop said. “We thought we could put some pressure on them and get some turnovers, but they pushed us and fought hard. We knew we would need to step up and get some stops in the third quarter.”

Although Fayette never lost the lead, South Shelby staged a comeback in the third quarter that brought the Cardinals within four points with eight minutes left to play.

The fourth quarter brought about many storylines. One of those was the play of South Shelby’s Cole Mitchell. The senior came on strong for coach Dalton Armontrout, scoring 15 of his 24 points in the final frame. Sophomore Trey Countryman also finished with 24 points on the game for the Cardinals.

Another story was the 27 points scored by Fayette in the fourth compared to 18 by South Shelby. Getting the win that night was paramount for Fayette. Senior Cody Hilgedick and Collins both poured in nine points in the fourth to help seal the game for Fayette.

Collins led all scorers with 30 points and made four steals. Hilgedick finished with 13 second-half points as well as two 3-pointers in the first half for a total of 19. Senior Kyle Schleeter posted 16 with six rebounds and four assists while classmate Zach Henderson knocked down 11 with three rebounds and four assists. Juniors Tyler Bartholomew and Garren Vroman as well as sophomores Chase Allen and Ben Wells all added two points on the night. Allen and Collins also led the Falcons with eight rebounds apiece.

“I love how our points were spread out in our scoring with four guys in double figures,” Bishop said. This game was truly a team effort with all eight players logging playing time contributing points.

With the win, the Falcons advance to face second-seeded South Callaway at Mokane for at 6 p.m. tipoff on Thursday. The Bulldogs are 13-11 overall and received a first-round bye in the district tournament.

“Our games will obviously get tougher as they go,” Bishop said. “South Callaway is playing very well and will be well-rested and ready. I know our guys will be also.”

In what would prove to be one of the most moving moments of the night, Armontrout and Bishop met in front of the scorer’s table to exchange a few words, as they did, the men of South Shelby quietly walked around the two coaches to extend congratulations and condolences to the men of the Falcon basketball team as fans of both the Falcons and the Cardinals cheered. 

Players and fans of Fayette seemed to not want to leave the gym. Many were heard to say, “I’m going to go,” or “It’s time to get out of here,” only to still be lingering in the gym five to ten minutes later. They knew they had witnessed something special by seeing how high school sports can help to start the process of healing a community.

“It’s nice to have this and build off of it and move forward,” said Bishop. “You never can move on, I don’t think any of us will ever do that, but moving forward is a key and that is what we are going to try to do.”

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