Duneland Athletic Conference play opened up on Friday night, and two of the early favorites squared off with perennial power Valparaiso traveling west to take on upstart Portage. Valpo used pressure defense and timely free throw shooting to come from behind a snatch a 50-47 win over Portage in a tale of two halves. Blaine Dalton and Breece Walls led the Vikings with a dozen points each in the triumph.

 

 

It looked like a typical Valpo-Portage matchup at the start, as the Vikings, who had won the last 24 games in the series - all by double figures - jumped out to 7-0 and 10-4 leads behind a pair of strong finishes inside from senior point guard Breece Walls. The new-look Indians, starting a couple of freshmen, came roaring back. The hosts would finish the first quarter to take a 14-12 lead following a three from freshman Garrett Clark.

 

The run would go out to 17-4 in the second as Clark and junior wing Kamari Slaughter went right at the bigger and more experienced Vikings. Portage would open a double-digit advantage which would climb to a high point of 16 as Clark again beat the buzzer with a three-pointer just before the halftime horn. Clark and Slaughter would combine for 24 first-half points, outscoring Valpo by themselves 24-17.

 

But whatever Barak Coolman said in the Valpo locker room at halftime was, it flipped a switch in the Vikings, who came out of the locker room determined. It started with turning up the defensive pressure on Portage, particularly on the young Clark, playing in the first conference game of his career. The Vikings also kept a keen eye on Slaughter and forced him to catch the ball near the half-court line on several occasions.

 

Senior guard Blaine Dalton was the sparkplug for the visitors as he maneuvered his way to the rim for multiple buckets early in the third and also was tasked with slowing down Slaughter on the other end. The Vikings would cut their 16 point halftime deficit all the way to five, starting the half on a 13-2 run. A basket at the rim from senior forward Blake Creech would halt the tide, but the momentum was clearly on Valpo's side.

 

The Vikings would get back to even on a pair of Breece Walls free throws midway through the fourth period. Walls and Dalton were determined to pick up the slack for leading scorer Mason Jones, who suffered through an atypically poor shooting night for the 6'6 junior forward. Jones, who came into the game averaging 18 points a game, finished with just nine on 3-14 shooting from the field.

 

Portage would work the clock with the score tied, and eventually, Garrett Clark would draw Walls' fourth foul with 40 seconds left. But the freshman Clark would split the pair at the line. Unfortunately, it was not only Clark at the line, as the Indians went just 1-5 at the stripe in the fourth quarter, including a missed front end with just over two minutes to go.

 

Trailing by a single point, Valpo went inside to Mason Jones, who was blocked at the rim by Kamari Slaughter. However, the block fell right to Jones, and he picked up the ball and laid it back in with 19 seconds left to give Valpo their first lead since the first quarter. Portage would call timeout with 13 seconds left, but a turnover on the inbound pass found its way to Connor McCall. McCall, who had not attempted a shot the entire night, calmly stepped to the foul line and nailed both shots, giving Valpo a three-point cushion. A half-court desperation heave from Primo Delvalle fell short at the buzzer, giving Valpo a significant conference victory.

 

After combining for 24 first-half points, the Portage duo of Garrett Clark and Kamari Slaughter was held to just a single point in the second half, coming on the Clark free throw with less than a minute left.

 

Valpo moves to 10-2 on the second and 1-0 in DAC play, while Portage slips back to 9-2 and 0-1 in conference action.

 

 

Valpo    12   5  19  14  -  50

Portage  14  19   9   5  -  47

 

Valpo: Blaine Dalton 12 points (4/7 FGs, 1/2 3Ps, 3/3 FTs), 2 asts, 3 stls; Breece Walls 12 points (4/5 FGs, 4/5 FTs), 4 rebs; Mason Jones 9 points (3/14 FGs, 3/4 FTs), 6 rebs, 3 stls, 2 blks; Adler Hazlett 5 points (2/4 FGs, 1/3 3Ps), 3 rebs; Jack Smiley 5 points (2/4 FGs, 1/1 FTs); Michael Flynn 3 points (1/3 3Ps), 2 rebs; Connor McCall 2 points (2/2 FTs); Jack Kuka 2 points (1/2 FGs)

 

Portage: Garrett Clark 14 points (5/9 FGs, 3/6 3Ps, 1/2 FTs), 5 rebs, 2 asts; Blake Creech 13 points (6/9 FGs, 1/1 FTs), 4 rebs, 2 asts; Kamari Slaughter 11 points (4/11 FGs, 1/3 3Ps, 2/2 FTs), 4 rebs, 5 asts, 3 blks; Terrell Craft 6 points (3/6 FGs), 3 rebs, 3 asts; Primo Delvalle 3 points (1/3 FGs, 1/2 FTs), 4 rebs