The Carey High School boys' basketball squad suffered its first defeat of the season in Hazelton Wednesday, but it took an overtime thriller for the Valley Vikings to secure a 56-52 win over the Panthers.
The loss followed Carey victories Tuesday over Dietrich and Monday over Bliss. Three games in three days may have been telling on the Panthers as they dominated Valley in the first half but seemed to run out of gas in the final two frames.
The first half ended with the Panthers leading 33-20. The Vikings narrowed the gap in the third, which ended with Carey still up 41-34. But Carey could only muster five in the fourth compared to 12 for Valley. Game tied.
Overtime was much the same story. Valley scored 10 and Carey scored six.
The loss dropped the Panthers to 8-1. The team is 4-0 in Northside Conference action.
Trevor Peck led Carey with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. He was followed by Tyler Parke with 13 and D.J. Simpson with eight.
Valley was led by Jordan Bruning and Antonio Juarez with 11 each.
The Carey boys get a break for the holidays and next face Richfield on the road on Jan. 4.
Carey 69, Dietrich 43
The Panther boys outscored the Dietrich Blue Devils 69-43 to capture another conference victory Tuesday night in Dietrich.
Tyler Parke and Kade Peterson were top dogs for the Panthers with 16 points apiece. Dillon Simpson scored 10, including two 3-pointers. Brother D.J. Simpson and Trevor Peck contributed nine points each, while Tyler Wilde added six.
Leading the Blue Devils was Jaren Stoddard with 15 and Anthony Pitman with 10.
