By joe Sabolek
MVIsports
Farmers Insurance pulled into a three-way tie for first place in the Mon Valley Independent Summer Basketball League’s boys division with an exciting 88-76 victory over BeeGraphix Thursday night.
Farmers (6-2) is now tied with BeeGraphix and Howard Hanna atop the division standings.
Tayshawn Levy was a huge reason why Farmers was able to pull out the hard-fought victory, pouring in 34 points.
“I just felt real hot after my first three and coach (Dana) Zajicek kept telling the team to feed me because I had the hot hand,” said Levy, a Washington product. “They kept on feeding me and I wasn’t forcing anything, so I was able to score a bunch of easy points.”
Zajicek mirrored that sentiment.
“He hasn’t been here a few games, but it seemed like they were all key buckets, too,” said Zajicek. “We had those scrambles for the ball and we kicked it out to him for a key three, and he played a little inside, too. He did a great job at posting up, he’s a talented player.”
With just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Farmers kicked off a 29-15 run that sealed the win. The large spurt included four triples from Levy and seven points from Belle Vernon Area standout Devin Whitlock, who finished with 17. He nearly had a triple-double, adding 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher put on a clinic to help BeeGraphix (5-2) stay within reach as he scored 11 of his team’s last 15 points. He was forced into some tough shots, but still managed to rip the nets for 41 points, the most of any player in boys league play this season.
“We played well as a team and a few times we let them get back in the game. We shared the wealth, but the one thing I was proud of was our defense and rebounding,” Zajicek said. “Rod probably had 50, but we were able to force some contested shots and played great team defense.”
To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.