Brice Abbey helps West Valley boys come from behind to knock off Central Valley at Eagle Holiday Classic

West Valley has made a habit this season of falling behind early in games, only to come racing back in the second half. So far, so good – and the pattern continued Friday during the holiday tournament which bears its name.

Senior Brice Abbey scored 16 points, 12 in the second half, and the Eagles came from 11 points down to edge Central Valley 47-45 in the Eagle Holiday Classic at West Valley High School on Friday.

Nathan Zettle scored 22 points and Brandon Spunich added 10 for West Valley, which extended its early -season record to 6-1. Orland Axton led CV (3-5) with 13 points, and Branson Olson and Hunter Bernhart added eight apiece.

“It was a great win for us,” West Valley coach Mike Hamilton said. “For whatever reason, we have a real tough time getting good starts, and so we’re always having to fight from behind. We’ve gone to pressure, and our zone defense, and for whatever reason, picked some things up and got teams a little bit out of their sorts and figured out a way to win. So, we haven’t played our best, but we’re 6-1, so that’s about as good as we can expect right now.”

Friday was the first of the three-day annual boys and girls holiday tournament hosted by West Valley, which features 17 Greater Spokane League teams and schools from across the region.

“I’m selfish, because we get to have it in our home gym,” Hamilton said, “but to have 60-plus teams from three different states all come here and play under one roof and have everybody be able to enjoy basketball for three full days is pretty cool event.”

With less than a minute to play, Abbey hit a corner 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give West Valley the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter. Olson missed a pair at the line with 34 seconds left, then the Bears missed two short jumpers inside 20 seconds and the Eagles hung on for the win.

“The shot clock was low, so I kind of just threw it up and it went in,” Abbey said. “I couldn’t hit much at the beginning, and then it just kind of came for me.”

“(Abbey) has got the ability to be as good as he wants to be,” Hamilton said. “He’s somebody that we push all the time. His offensive ability is really good. We’re trying to get him to step up on the defensive end a little bit. He makes big, timely shots.”

Spunich made two inside buckets for WV, Axton hit a couple of 3-pointers for CV and the Eagles led 13-10 after one quarter.

Jace Nordhagen converted a three-point play early in the second to tie it and Axton hit a 3-pointer for CV’s first lead of the game with three minutes left in the half. West Valley was limited to five points in the quarter and CV led 27-18 at halftime.

Axton and Bernhart hit 3s early in the third to stretch the lead to double digits. Zettle and Abbey hit 3-pointers to get WV back into it, and CV led 38-30 after three quarters.

Bernhart hit a corner 3-pointer midway through the fourth to restore a 10-point lead, but sophomore Zettle’s back-to-back baskets made it a six-point game with 3:30 left. Abbey hit a short jumper, and Zettle’s runner with 1:56 left made it a two-point game.

“(Zettle) has definitely been a guy that we’ve counted on all season,” Hamilton said.

“We got into a situation where he had a really tough first half, and then he stepped up for us in the second half to be the leader that he is.”