The Valley Central boys’ basketball team had the lead all game, but the Goshen Gladiators continually hung around.

Then, the Vikings came out hot in the third quarter, turning a seven-point lead into a 16-point advantage on their way to a 65-52 Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II victory on Thursday night in a raucous Goshen High School gymnasium.

“It was just the crowd,” said Armando Perez, who led the Vikings with a game-high 29 points. “The crowd was going crazy, but we made shots, swung the ball, got it in the paint. And made shots.”

Perez did most of his damage in the first half, hitting five of his six 3-pointers in the first half. He scored 10 points in the first quarter and another nine in the second.

“Armando shot the heck out of the ball,” Valley Central coach Frank Nutt said. “They sat in a 2-3 zone and allowed him to play off the ball a little bit more. He’s been our primary ball handler all year.”

Donovan Davis finished with 12 points, overcoming first-half foul trouble. He was limited to four points in the first quarter, opening the door for the Vikings to show off their depth.

In addition to Perez, Jason Murphy hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter on his way to eight points and Adrian Gentles hit one in the second quarter.

“I stepped up a lot, but also Jason hit some 3s,” Perez said. “(Nasir Snell) had buckets in the paint. (Tyler Persaud) was getting rebounds and Donovan picked it up.”

Davis scored eight of his points in the second half, including a dunk with 28.2 seconds left in the game that signaled it was over.

“Everybody scores,” Perez said. “Everybody gets their own, and we play as a team.”

Last year, two guards, Raysean Johnson and Jurrell Taylor drove the Vikings. This year, the Vikings need everyone on their roster for success.

“We’re 1 through 12 this year,” Nutt said. “It’s not often you have a Division I guard and a Division II guard on your team at the same time at the high school level. This year, we’re together as one. It’s a lot of guys doing a lot of little things.”

So, far the formula is working. After a season-opening loss to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders, the Vikings have won five straight games to enter the holiday break with a 5-1 overall record and a 3-0 record in the OCIAA Division II.

They also have divisional wins over the Minisink Valley Warriors and the Monticello Panthers.

“We’re 3-0 in the conference, and that’s really how we judge things,” Nutt said. “We have a couple of tough games after the break with Cornwall and Kingston right off the bat, starting the new year. One game at a time, and I think we’re in a good spot right now.”