Ned Joyce finds his 3-point stroke in Pleasant Valley's 57-53 CIF State championship win over Venice
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Pleasant Valley's Ned Joyce hadn't made a 3-pointer in eight games coming into Friday's Division III CIF State championship game against Venice. In fact, he'd only attempted one during that stretch, and he missed it.
Well guess who hit the game-winning triple for the Vikings in the Golden 1 Center?
The biggest shot of Joyce's high school career came with 1:45 to play, a straightaway 3-pointer, and it gave the Vikings the lead for good in their 57-53 win. Overall, Joyce took seven 3's in the state championship and he connected on four.
The senior shooting seven 3's when he usually shoots none required a pretty significant tactical change from Pleasant Valley. Joyce credits his teammate, Noah Thomas, with giving him the green light.
"That was from Noah," Joyce said. "He went to me like 'dude, shoot the ball and I was like okay.' The next possession we threw it in and Noah passed it to me and I just splashed it and then the rest of the game my shot just felt so good."
For as confident as Joyce was on Friday, with 25.7 seconds left and Pleasant Valley clinging to a 55-53 lead, Thomas revealed that he was feeling the opposite when he went to the free throw line with a chance to ice the game.
"I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared," Thomas said. "I was like shoot, what if I actually miss this last one and they hit a three and win it, that's it. But then I was like nah, I got this. But I was hyping myself up in my head. I've got that stroke."
Thomas drained both free throws to finish with a game high 24 points. Joyce scored 14.
"These kids are the best kids in the world," Pleasant Valley head coach Tim Keating said. "I love these guys."
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