The Valley Patriots had waited a long time to get into a position to bring home a state title when they took the floor for Friday afternoon’s Class 1A Division I state championship game against Perrin-Whitt at San Antonio’s Alamodome.
Maybe it was the fact that Perrin-Whitt had to wait even longer which made the difference.
In a matchup between two schools who had gone literally decades without a state tournament appearance and who had never won a state championship, it came down to who was hungriest. Perrin-Whitt got to the table more quickly, taking the lead for good early as Valley scrambled to keep up in falling 65-46.
The Patriots hadn’t been to a final four since 1983, the only time in school history they’d been that far. Perrin-Whitt was in the final four for only the third time in school history, and then first time since 1946.
Past records made little difference in 2025. In the present, Valley coach Aaron Green realized that it just wasn’t his team’s day.
“We’ve definitely played better games,” Green said. “(Perrin-Whitt) came out super-hot shooting the three and never let down. It’s tough, but we had that opportunity and to get to coach in this situation was one of my goals this year. For that I’m grateful.”
It was actually a competitive game for most of the first half. Valley (34-4) led only once, 4-2 in the opening two minutes, when freshman Corbin Taylor scored on a tip-in.
Even though Taylor is in his first varsity season, he didn’t let the hugeness of the situation overwhelm him, as he led the Patriots with 25 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
“I was just trying to do all I could to win,” Taylor said. “it didn’t matter how much I scored, I was just working hard out there.”
The 6-foot-7 Taylor led a strong rebounding effort, as the Patriots outrebounded the Pirates 41-32.
“We try to take advantage of our height,” Green said. “(The Pirates) did a pretty good job of packing it in. They’re athletic kids getting their hands up for shots we normally make. Hats off to their defense.”
The Patriots only trailed by three early in the second quarter, but the Pirates (34-5) started an 8-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers by Jack McCormick and Cole Kenney to go up 24-13. Valley trailed only 28-22 at halftime and still appeared able to make a game of it.
However, Valley came out of the lockerroom cold to start the second half, as Perrin-Whitt scored the first 10 points of the half and never looked back. The Patriots managed only five points in the third quarter, and trailed 41-27 at the end of the quarter.
They didn’t fold up their tent, though, as they went on a 12-1 run to cut it to 50-41 on Evan Meyer’s layup with 3:09 left in the game. But the Pirates made another 10-0 run to put away Valley and cruise to their first state championship.
Kanyon Taylor had 12 points for Valley. Perrin-Whitt’s McCormick had a game-high 28 points while Case Lambert scored 17 and Kenney added 16.
It was a tough way to end the season, but Green showed his gratitude for the community support his team got all season
“It doesn’t matter if it’s basketball, football, baseball or track they always show up,” Green said. “They’re here day in and day out. The teachers, administration, cheerleaders and the student section we have has always supported us throughout this run.”
For a look at the box score please visit, https://www.uiltexas.org/files/athletics/state-basketball/boxscores-boys/25BBB1AD1.pdf