SPRING VALLEY – To paraphrase Forrest Gump, you could say that a game between the Hall Red Devils and the Bureau Valley Storm also is like a box of chocolates.

From one game to the next you never know what you’re going to get.

One thing is for certain, COVID-19 restrictions such as masks and a smaller numbers of spectators did not dampen the competitive spirit of these rivals one bit Saturday afternoon at Red Devil Gym.

After a slow start, the Red Devils caught up to and blew by the Storm, 70-41.

Led by Bureau Valley top scorer Carter Salisbury (23 points), the Storm jumped out to an early 11-4 lead.

“We threw some different things at them that we hadn’t done all year,” Bureau Valley head coach Jason Marquis said. “It’s kind of odd to do that on the last game of the year, but our kids adjusted well.”

Salisbury was the only Storm player in double digit scoring for the game.

“It’s good to see him flourish and blossom,” Marquis said. “He went down to an injury Tuesday, and he’s still sore. It would’ve been fun to see what he would’ve done at his full strength. He lives and breathes basketball, and we’re fortunate to have him every night.”

Hall head coach Mike Filippini was more than aware of the danger in letting Bureau Valley get too far ahead.

“Bureau Valley plays really hard, and that was our first point of emphasis,” Filippini said. “I was not very happy in the first half. We did not play harder than they did.

“They kind of out-hustled us, beat us to some loose balls, and we didn’t do a very good job of offensive rebounding. We gave up four in a row and they scored on each of them.”

Hall points leader Mac Resetich (24 points) took the reins and with help from Payton Plym (16) and Drake Garland (10) brought the Red Devils to an 11-all tie, a 21-14 first period lead and a 34-27 advantage at halftime.

“Mac had a monster game, carried us in the first half,” Filippini said. “And he rebounded well, too. Drake had a couple of big 3s for us, and Payton had a really nice game for us.

“You don’t see a lot of kids do that little 5-8-foot jump shot. Everybody wants to shoot from 25 feet out because it looks cooler. But Payton is really good around the hoop with that little jump shot.”

The Red Devils opened the game up in the second half, outscoring the Storm, 21-8, to stretch their lead to 55-35 at the end of the third quarter.

“We played really well the first half,” Marquis said. “But then we started to get beat off the dribble a little bit no matter what we threw at them.

“Our seniors took the floor and defended well, but then I think the game [Friday] night started to show. Our legs were getting slow and our vertical leap was starting to not exist. We just got outgunned, but our effort was there.”

By the middle of the fourth quarter the writing was on the wall with Hall comfortably leading, 63-41, and both coaches taking the opportunity to let other players get some game time.

“We did a better job of rebounding in the second half,” Filippini said. “We got really good ball movement against their zone, getting the ball inside and kicking it to the opposite.

“We went through a little funk where we lost four in a row in the middle of the year, and we weren’t sharing the ball. Everyone was taking their own shots. I think we’ve done much better playing as a team.”

Hall won the sophomore game, 53-34, over Bureau Valley. Riley Coble led the Red Devils with 25 points, and Sam Wright led the Storm with 12.