GRAHAMSVILLE – The Bears, and the entire Tri-Valley community is having a year to remember. After winning the Section Championship in 8-Man Football, a Section IX Finals appearance by the girls soccer team and a State Championship for Cross Country, their winning ways have continued into the winter.

Last week, the Tri-Valley Indoor Track team won the Section IX crown for the second time in school history, and now the Boys Basketball team is returning to Sectional contention in Class C after defeating Sullivan West 47-36 on Wednesday night.

The Bears set the pace early in their senior recognition game, outscoring the Bulldogs 11-6 in the first quarter thanks to six early points by Gavin Clarke. He finished the day with 10, but seven Bears scored in the win.

With a five-point lead going into the second, Tri-Valley doubled Sullivan West’s score in the quarter, by the tune of 12-6 to take a 23-12 lead at halftime.

The score was kept low by the intense defense and physicality from both sides as each team needed this win to earn a trip to the playoffs. Eighteen fouls were committed in the first half, and led to many substitutions and adjustments.

For as many fouls that were called in the game, a lot went uncalled as the teams were involved in a lot of incidental contact.

In the third quarter, the Bulldogs started on a 10-6 run to cut the lead to seven, but Tri-Valley would get the lead back up to 10 by the end of the quarter, leading 34-24.

The Bears put the exclamation mark on the win in the fourth quarter, increasing their lead to 19 before the benches were emptied and a Sullivan West 8-0 run cut into that lead as the minutes dwindled. 

When the final buzzer sounded Tri-Valley had earned a playoff appearance behind a 47-36 win.

“We didn’t play well enough to win,” SW Coach John Meyer said after the game. “They took advantage of their opportunities and we didn’t, so hats off to them.”

T-V Coach Kevin Delaney said his team knew the stakes coming into the game.

“It was a must win, and after we lost to them earlier in the season, we were prepared to come out strong tonight. We carried our intensity throughout the game and it was a total team effort.”

Clarke led the Bears with 10 points, with Josh Fanslau adding nine and Matt Fanslau netting eight.

Jacob Hubert and Jakob Halloran each scored 10 for Sullivan West.

The teams combined for 45 turnovers, and Tri-Valley converted 12-of-20 free throws while SW went 8-for-16 from the line.

Tri-Valley moved to 8-9 (2-2) on the year and punched their playoff ticket with a .500 overall record.

Sullivan West still has a chance to get into Sectionals, but will have to get past Bill Steele’s S.S. Seward Spartans, who beat Liberty earlier this week, tonight.