Locust Valley falls to Putnam Valley despite Payton Tini's fiery start

The girls basketball state Class B Southeast Regional finals started with a scintillating show.

All thanks to Payton Tini.

Locust Valley’s star five-year point guard made an explosive entrance as the Falcons faced a familiar opponent in Section I’s Putnam Valley.

But Tini’s game-high 25 points wouldn’t be enough to carry the Falcons as Putnam Valley defeated Locust Valley, 51-37, at Farmingdale State Saturday evening.

“They adjusted and took away a lot of our strengths, but at the end of the day I think everybody gave it the best effort they had and didn’t give up,” Tini said. “That’s all you can really hope for.”

Locust Valley (18-4) went on a 10-0 run in the latter half of the first quarter with Tini at the heart of the offense, scoring 15 of the team’s 18 points as the Falcons put up a two-digit lead.

But opportunities changed for Tini as a suffocating defense left her and teammate Reily Roberts, who dished out two points and five assists, scoreless for the remainder of the first half.

Putnam Valley went on a 19-0 run in the second quarter as Eva DeChent put up eight points for the Tigers. DeChent finished with 20 points for Putnam Valley (25-1).

“We had a fantastic start, it was just electric,” coach Michael Guidone said. “In the second quarter, they made a very good defensive adjustment, and we tried our best to adjust ourselves. We had some good looks, but we just weren’t dropping.”

With Putnam Valley leading 27-18 to open the second half, the Falcons’ offense knew they had to take over where Tini left off.

“We were playing at such a fast pace, and their defense became really strong as they started face guarding me and Reily,” Tini said. “But I think the rest of us adjusted well. Everyone started taking shots, some were falling but unfortunately sometimes that’s just how it goes.”

Said Guidone: “Coming out of halftime, we felt much more comfortable and went toe to toe. They’re ranked number two in the state for a reason. They’re a fantastic team.”

The two teams met in last season’s regional finals, with Putnam Valley coming out on top, 49-38.

“We talked about [Putnam Valley’s] strengths and said we’re going to respect them, not fear them,” Guidone said. “That’s exactly what we did. We gave them everything we had.”

“We have a lot of sophomores, juniors, and even freshmen that have made a huge impact on our team this year,” Tini said. “I have full confidence that they’ll be able to get back here again.”