Sometimes early mistakes become very difficult to overcome. On Tuesday night in Galt, that was certainly the case for the Valley Christian Academy boys basketball team.

The Lions made the trip to Galt High School for a Sac-Joaquin Section Division V semifinal battle with Carmichael’s Victory Christian and came out on the short end of a 73-64 verdict.

The game was an uphill battle most of the way for VCA as it fell behind in the first half and found itself working to overcome the deficit the rest of the way. The Lions (25-5) have taken three of their five defeats this year at the hands of Victory Christian (26-3).

“The biggest concern came true - the name on the front of their jersey,” said Valley Christian coach Brad Gunter. “They are a well coached team that has mentally tough kids that really know each other well. I guess you could say they have our number.”

Both teams came out of the gate charged up for the contest that did not tip until a few minutes past the scheduled 9 p.m. start time. VCA’s biggest problems in the first half were largely of its own making, though the Vikings did a nice job taking full advantage.

In an effort to keep fresh legs (and heads) on the court, Gunter employed a strategy of wholesale substitutions through much of the first half, sending five fresh players onto the floor at the same time. The tactic seemed to work, but with both units, the Lions had too many unforced turnovers and too many missed scoring chances, particularly from the free throw line.

“We had played them twice before and each time had low-scoring affairs that left us thinking too much and them not tired,” Gunter said. “The goal of the line changes was to keep us fresh for a dogfight while continuing to attack on defense in the first half. To a point it did exactly what we wanted.”

Valley Christian caught a bad break late in the initial stanza when an offensive foul committed by Orest Shaynyuk was mistakenly applied to Rob Frank. It was Frank’s third and left one of the Lions’ fiercest competitors on the bench for the entire second stanza.

Eight different VCA players scored in the first half, but they combined for just 26 points, far below the number the Lions usually post in the first 16 minutes. A big first half by 5-foot-10 senior guard Kevin Halverson (10 points) led the Vikings to a 33-26 lead at intermission.

The Lions turned up the defense, with a frenetic attacking press, coming out after the break, and they were successful in cutting into the lead. Each time they got near the top of the mountain, however, Victory was able to hit a couple of buckets to push its advantage back up to the 10-point range, and VCA was never able to get back on top.

Frank, Ryan Cordell and Stanley Winters were all involved in a defensive effort that caused the normally stingy Vikings into a number of miscues.

“I decided that if we were going to go down, we were going out on our terms and try to push the action,” Gunter said. “They normally do not turn over the ball and I am not sure how many we caused, but it has to be well over their season average.”

Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but both also had some big moments in the clutch shooting department. With Winters breaking down the Victory Christian defense off the bounce, and feeding teammates scoring opportunities, Shaynyuk and Jesse Peters both had solid scoring nights for the Lions.

Gunter expected the Vikings to get a lot of their scoring from forward Nathan Coppernoll, who averages 18.4 points per night. The 6-3 senior got his points (17 for the game), but it was not his output that killed Valley Christian. Coppernoll did hit one vital shot, a fade-away 35-footer at the third quarter buzzer that pushed the Viking lead to 12 points heading into the final eight minutes.

“I was happy that we made Nate Coppernol work harder this time around for his shots, but the off players on their team hitting shots in the first half was real uncharacteristic and a huge credit to them,” Gunter said.

One player who came up big in helping Victory hold off the Lions’ second half surge was Coppernoll’s sophomore brother, Clayton, who hit three huge 3-pointers and scored all of his 13 points after the break. He also led the Vikings with 10 rebounds for the night.

Despite Clayton Coppernoll’s big shots, VCA nearly managed to pull this one off. A Cordell 3-pointer with 34 seconds to go cut the margin to two points at 66-64, but it would be last Lion scoring of the game. A foul on the ensuing Victory possession was ruled intentional (a somewhat questionable ruling) set up Victory to put the lead back into two-possession territory and put the game away.

“The young Coppernol put a bit of a dagger in the heart, but I was very proud of the fight that the players came back with,” Gunter said. “It was a two-point game until the intentional foul call at the end and then we were in shoot the first shot mode after that.”

Free throws were a big part of the story as the Vikings hit 19-of-24 while Valley Christian nailed just 8-of-19 from the charity stripe.

Cordell scored 19 points to lead the Lions, while Peters and Shaynyuk each tallied 10 points. Peters led the squad on the backboards with nine. Marcel Louis-Jaques made a strong return from an injury and scored nine points, while reserve guard Jason Gish also scored nine and pulled down seven rebounds. Winters scored just two points, but his five rebounds and five assists were a big part of the Lion effort.

The win sends Victory Christian on to Arco Arena Friday night to take on Ripon Christian in the D-V title game. The Lions season does not end here as the top four in each division of the Sac-Joaquin Section advance to next week’s Northern California playoffs. VCA will find out where it will play in that tournament this weekend.

“Arco would have been great but this is a huge stepping stone for our program,” Gunter said. “Last year we were 16-12 and made it to the second round, this year 25-5, made it to the final four and Nor Cal and we have a lot in the tank for the next six years. Based on what everybody has coming back next season, I like our chances to get back to Galt and see if we can get over the next hump.”