It was tournament time for the Quaker Valley’s boys basketball team in the first week of the season.
The Quakers swept through the Lake Ethel Classic held Dec. 6-7 at Derry, rolling past Class 5A Laurel Highlands, 65-29, and Class 4A Derry, 58-27, in the two-day event.
“We had good balance both games throughout our lineup and from our bench play,” QV’s veteran coach Mike Mastroianni said.
Sophomore guard Sam Chapman led QV against Laurel Highlands with a career-high 28-point total. Zach Washington, a junior guard, was the Quakers’ leading scorer against Derry with 18 points.
Chapman and freshman guard Nic Cohen chipped in with 10 points apiece in the championship game.
QV senior forward Dom Cox-Giles pulled down 25 rebounds in the two tournament games.
Mastroianni also praised the performance of two other underclassmen, Cohen and sophomore forward Kolton Johnson.
“Nic and Kolton played well on both ends of the floor in both games,” Mastroianni said.
QV’s coach has been utilizing an early season starting rotation of six players on any given night, consisting of Chapman, Washington, Cox-Giles, Johnson, Cohen and 6-foot-5 senior forward Dana Kromah.
Washington was the team leader in 3-point shooting last year and ranked second in scoring — averaging close to 16 points per game — as well as field-goal shooting and free-throw shooting.
Quaker Valley opened the season Nov. 30 with a 50-28 win over Class 3A Beaver Falls at the Geneva College/Lincoln Park tournament at Geneva College.
The Quakers then lost a nail-biting 49-48 decision in overtime to Class 5A Franklin Regional at the Mike Rettger Memorial tipoff tournament at Franklin Regional.
The round-robin tournament included top teams from Class 6A, 5A, 4A and A.
QV is scheduled to begin Section 2-4A play Dec. 19, hosting Ambridge at 7:30 p.m.