RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Valley's basketball team is on a roll, and I frankly don't see any reason why the Tigers can't defeat Sioux City North tomorrow afternoon in the semifinal round of the class 4-A state high school tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines. I thought Valley needed to bring its 'A' game last night to have a chance against top-ranked Dubuque Senior. However, the Tigers managed to win, 42-41, without its 'A' game. Valley clearly didn't play as well against Senior as it did in its substate finale against Ankeny Centennial. I had thought all along that Dubuque Senior might be overrated, and I was right. It was a down year in the Central Iowa Metro League in which Valley plays, but I thought there were several teams in addition to Valley that could have beaten Senior. I'm thinking about Waukee, Ankeny Centennial and North specifically. Valley underachieved a number of times while losing eight games during the regular season. Indeed, for a majority of the season, the Tigers were pretty much an after-thought at their own school. The Valley girls' team, which was ranked No. 2 or No. 3 throughout the state all winter, captured lots of the fans' attention. Valley's girls made it to the state tournament, but lost in the opening round to Southeast Polk. I now think coach Jeff Horner has his Valley players in the correct frame of mind at the right time [tournament time], so I fully expect the Tigers to continue playing well in tomorrow's 3:15 p.m. game against Sioux City North [22-3]. Records at this point in the season are, of course, meaningless.