Lady Vikings Fall In Season Finale
January 31, 2021 at 11:38 p.m.
Lady Vikings Fall In Season Finale
By Dale [email protected]
In a 58-52 loss to the John Glenn Lady Falcons, the 5-foot-7 Wagner scored 13 of Valley’s 14 fourth-quarter points and finished the 32-minute contest with a game-high 27 points.
She made a three-pointer on three straight strips down the floor in the fourth quarter, with the final one cutting Glenn’s lead to one point, 53-52, with 1:11 remaining.
The Lady Falcons put the game away at the free throw line, as junior Jessica Yelaska made 5 of 6 attempts in the final minute.
“She’s obviously been a great player for us,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said of Wagner, who upped her career scoring total to 980 with the 27 points Saturday.
“She’s not afraid of anything. She kind of put us on her back, which a senior should be doing in her final home game. She continues to play well.
“I think the key for us when we get into the sectional is can Kaydence Mellott shoot the ball well? Can Lily Ault shoot the ball well? We’re going to need more of an inside-outside threat than what we had today. But yeah, Sidney is a great player, and I can’t say enough about where she’s come from in terms of where she was at when we got her as a freshman and where she’s at now. She’s improved leaps and bounds, and that’s all on her, working in the summer and offseason. It’s gonna be tough to replace her next year.”
Mellott, a sophomore, made four three-pointers and finished with 14 points, while Ault scored all six of her points from the arc.
Junior Mercedes Snapp and sophomore Corinna Stiles rounded out the Lady Vikings’ scoring with three and two points, respectively.
Valley, 13-8 now after its four-game win streak was snapped, trailed 18-12 after one quarter of play, 29-27 at halftime and 42-38 heading into the final frame.
“We were trying to foul different people, but sometimes you just foul whoever you can, and they did a good job of finishing,” Kindig said of the final minute of play.
“Glenn shot the ball really well, especially the first half. We were down eight, 10 points in the fourth quarter and we were able to push and push and get it down to one point.
“I was really happy with our effort. This was the type of game, the type of team we’re gonna see in our sectional, I really believe that. I think that bodes well for us if we can maybe just get two or three more defensive rebounds that we didn’t get. They really hurt us on the board big time, I don’t know what the difference was, but obviously not having Hayley Backus in there was a factor. She could have played, but we just didn’t really feel like that was the fish to fry right now, she was a little sore from Thursday. She would have made big difference, especially when you talk about Glenn getting a lot of baskets on dribble penetration, and I think she could have helped us take care of that a little more.”
Backus, a 6-1 senior post player, was dressed for Saturday’s game but sat on the bench with a bulky knee brace. She is expected to play in the sectional.
Valley drew a first-round bye for this week’s Class 3A sectional at Wawasee High School
The Lady Vikings will play in the semifinals Friday against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Wawasee and NorthWood.
In a 58-52 loss to the John Glenn Lady Falcons, the 5-foot-7 Wagner scored 13 of Valley’s 14 fourth-quarter points and finished the 32-minute contest with a game-high 27 points.
She made a three-pointer on three straight strips down the floor in the fourth quarter, with the final one cutting Glenn’s lead to one point, 53-52, with 1:11 remaining.
The Lady Falcons put the game away at the free throw line, as junior Jessica Yelaska made 5 of 6 attempts in the final minute.
“She’s obviously been a great player for us,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said of Wagner, who upped her career scoring total to 980 with the 27 points Saturday.
“She’s not afraid of anything. She kind of put us on her back, which a senior should be doing in her final home game. She continues to play well.
“I think the key for us when we get into the sectional is can Kaydence Mellott shoot the ball well? Can Lily Ault shoot the ball well? We’re going to need more of an inside-outside threat than what we had today. But yeah, Sidney is a great player, and I can’t say enough about where she’s come from in terms of where she was at when we got her as a freshman and where she’s at now. She’s improved leaps and bounds, and that’s all on her, working in the summer and offseason. It’s gonna be tough to replace her next year.”
Mellott, a sophomore, made four three-pointers and finished with 14 points, while Ault scored all six of her points from the arc.
Junior Mercedes Snapp and sophomore Corinna Stiles rounded out the Lady Vikings’ scoring with three and two points, respectively.
Valley, 13-8 now after its four-game win streak was snapped, trailed 18-12 after one quarter of play, 29-27 at halftime and 42-38 heading into the final frame.
“We were trying to foul different people, but sometimes you just foul whoever you can, and they did a good job of finishing,” Kindig said of the final minute of play.
“Glenn shot the ball really well, especially the first half. We were down eight, 10 points in the fourth quarter and we were able to push and push and get it down to one point.
“I was really happy with our effort. This was the type of game, the type of team we’re gonna see in our sectional, I really believe that. I think that bodes well for us if we can maybe just get two or three more defensive rebounds that we didn’t get. They really hurt us on the board big time, I don’t know what the difference was, but obviously not having Hayley Backus in there was a factor. She could have played, but we just didn’t really feel like that was the fish to fry right now, she was a little sore from Thursday. She would have made big difference, especially when you talk about Glenn getting a lot of baskets on dribble penetration, and I think she could have helped us take care of that a little more.”
Backus, a 6-1 senior post player, was dressed for Saturday’s game but sat on the bench with a bulky knee brace. She is expected to play in the sectional.
Valley drew a first-round bye for this week’s Class 3A sectional at Wawasee High School
The Lady Vikings will play in the semifinals Friday against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Wawasee and NorthWood.
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