Eagle Staff Writer

CHERRY TWP — In ancient times, the name Tyler meant "bricklayer."

Not this Tyler.

Tyler Grossman was 11-of-14 from the free throw line in the pivotal fourth quarter and scored 30 points to lead Moniteau to a key 62-57 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference win over A-C Valley Thursday night.

Before the game, Grossman was handed a basketball from his father John in a ceremony celebrating his standing as all-time leading scorer in Warriors' history.

All he did in the game was hand Moniteau a victory.

"It meant a lot," said Grossman, who passed his father Tuesday night in the Warrior record book. "It meant a lot first to get there, and second to break my dad's record."

Grossman had an all-around big night.

In addition to his 30 points and his sharp shooting at the line in the fourth period, he was in charge of guarding long-time friend and former AAU teammate Sean Foust.

With Grossman haranguing him all night and limiting his penetration, particularly to the left, Foust shot 1-of-16 from the field and finished with a season-low seven points.

"You never know," Grossman said. "He's been scoring 30 points a night. You just have to keep a hand in his face and hope for the best."

With Foust turned into a passer instead of a scorer, Moniteau was able to go to work on the rest of the Falcons, who didn't fare much better in the shooting department.

A-C Valley shot a feeble 28 percent from the floor.

"We picked a bad night to have a bad night," said A-C Valley coach Jim Marron.

Poor shooting led to a bushel of rebounds for Moniteau — an area it has excelled in this season. Matt Schandelmeier finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Despite its shooting woes, A-C Valley (13-5, 5-4) hung in with Moniteau for most of the game.

The Warriors (15-3, 8-1) threatened to put the game away, building a nine-point lead late in the first half, but A-C Valley switched to a 1-3-1 full-court press that got it back into the game.

Moniteau coach Randy Armagost figured the Falcons would go to the press sooner.

The Warriors handled it well for the most part, but it didn't take many miscues for A-C Valley to roar back to tie the score at 50 late in the third period.

The Falcons led briefly by a point in the fourth period — their only lead of the game — but that's when the Tyler Grossman show hit its climax.

Grossman, who has been spotty at the line in his career, has saved his best free throw shooting for last.

"We were joking about it last night," Armagost said. "Tyler is a 60 percent shooter from the line during the season, but he shoots 90 percent from the line in the fourth quarter."

Where does that clutch performance come from? The answer is easy.

"I like the pressure," Grossman said, smiling.

Armagost would prefer Grossman be as sharp from the line in the first three periods, but he'll take a 90 percent shooter in the fourth, that's for sure.

"Desire and wanting the ball, that's what it is," Armagost said.

Marron also marveled at Grossman's performance.

"I don't want to take anything away from Tyler Grossman," Marron said. "He's a great player and a competitor. I told him I enjoyed competing against him for the last four years."

The loss all but knocks A-C Valley out of the KSAC championship race, but Marron said there is still plenty to shoot for.

Like a solid postseason.

He's giving his team the weekend off after a string of games decided late — enough to fray even the most veteran of nerves.

"We've been in so many close games," Marron said. "Hopefully that will help us come playoff time."

Moniteau is now in position to contend for a conference title a year after starting the season 0-10 and becoming buried well before the New Year.

"Last year, we had no practice players," Armagost said. "We were too young and we had no competition in practice. I had JV players who had never even played varsity or JV before.

"This year, our practices are like football. Clay Campbell has brought that football mentality to our practices. He wants to take someone's head off. That only helps us."

A-C VALLEY 57

Sean Foust 1-16 4-4 7, Ted Marron 6-13 1-2 16, John Kaufman 4-13 2-4 10, Kyle McCall 1-3 1-1 3, Ryan Jackson 2-10 4-7 8, Sean Courson 4-9 1-2 11, Garrett Greathouse 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 19-67 13-20 57

MONITEAU 62

Tyler Grossman 9-22 12-18 30, Zack Thompson 2-10 1-1 5, Matt Schandelmeier 6-14 2-2 14, Matt Buczkowski 1-9 2-2 4, Tyler Armagost 3-5 1-2 7, Garth Kohlmeyer 0-0 0-0 0, Barry Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Clay Campbell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-61 18-25 62

3-point goals:

Foust, Marron 3, Courson 2

JV:

Moniteau 47-36

Monday:

Union at Moniteau

Wednesday:

North Clarion at A-C Valley