Sluggish Vikings Win Home Opener
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
AKRON - It seems as if the holiday season comes sooner every year. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but the Valley girls basketball team nearly handed Wabash an early Christmas present. The Vikings struggled from the field and with turnovers but prevailed in their home opener, 57-48.
With 1:35 left in the game, Wabash drew to within 51-41 after trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half. Two consecutive steals by Kandi Brandt yielded just one free throw for the Apaches to make the score 51-42.
After Brandt's second steal, she dished to forward Amy Dawes, who appeared to have an open jumper before Valley's Heather Rathbun came up and blocked the shot.
Two Chelsy Rhoades free throws pushed the Vikings' lead to 53-42.
Wabash had a chance to cut the lead to four points with under a minute left when Dawes stole the ball on Valley's end and eventually found Heather Fox for a wide-open three-point try. Fox's shot rimmed in and out, essentially ending the Apaches' threat.
Valley had a chance to blow the game open in the first quarter. Wabash turned the ball over on its first seven possessions but the Vikings couldn't capitalize. After the Apaches' early struggles, Valley had just a 6-0 lead, with all six points coming on free throws.
"I thought our defensive pressure was good. We had them turn it over 12 times in the first quarter but we only turned it into six points. People tend to forget that this is a new team and a new season, these kids are trying to find each other. They want to play well, it's their first home game so I think we were playing too fast," said Valley head coach Gary Teel.
Teel watched as his team slowed down and put together their longest offensive run of the game late in the opening quarter. A Rhoades' three-pointer started things as Valley reeled off 12 straight points to finish the first quarter with a 20-7 lead.
The Vikings struggled all evening from the field shooting a less than stellar 18 of 48 (37.5 percent). Valley was able to connect on clutch shots when they needed to.
Wabash outscored Valley 8-2 to start the second quarter before Holli Jackson's jumper kick started an 8-2 Viking run to push their lead to double digits once again.
Valley was led in scoring on the evening by Kara Kramer's 16 points. Kramer wasn't sharp from the field but was able to drive and draw fouls. The 5-foot-9 senior finished the evening 8 of 13 from the free throw line.
"She's the catalyst that gets the team going," said Teel of Kramer. "Like tonight, when she's off shooting she needs to step up defensively like she did. But she shouldn't stop shooting either because all good shooters will come back to the game."
Rhoades was also solid for Valley scoring 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting to follow up her 18-point performance in the Vikings season opener at Bremen. She finished with five steals and five rebounds as well.
Jackson stepped up both offensively and defensively for Valley and ended the night with 11 points, six rebounds and four steals.
While Valley was able to create turnovers on defense, they created quite a few on offense as well. The Vikings turned the ball over 23 times on the night and added poor free throw shooting, 20 of 32 (62.5 percent) to accompany the low field goal average.
Despite the struggles on offense, Teel sees this team's upside.
"I'm excited about these kids. It's going to be a maturation process. It's going to take them some time to click together," said Teel.
Valley's biggest litmus test of the young season comes against Warsaw Friday at the Tiger Den. Last year, the Vikings upset the then No. 1 state-ranked Tigers 54-45 for Valley's first win over Warsaw since 1981. Warsaw was ranked No. 7 in the Midwest at the time as well.
This year's versions of both teams are quite different from last year but payback may be a back-story.
"As far as going into the Warsaw game, we're going to have to play better. I'm not going to analyze what we're going to do or how they're going to play. We're going to play the best we can. We'll use this game as a learning tool and come out and try to play better against Warsaw," said Teel.
Valley is 2-0 overall and Friday night's tip-off against Warsaw is set for 7:45 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]
AKRON - It seems as if the holiday season comes sooner every year. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but the Valley girls basketball team nearly handed Wabash an early Christmas present. The Vikings struggled from the field and with turnovers but prevailed in their home opener, 57-48.
With 1:35 left in the game, Wabash drew to within 51-41 after trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half. Two consecutive steals by Kandi Brandt yielded just one free throw for the Apaches to make the score 51-42.
After Brandt's second steal, she dished to forward Amy Dawes, who appeared to have an open jumper before Valley's Heather Rathbun came up and blocked the shot.
Two Chelsy Rhoades free throws pushed the Vikings' lead to 53-42.
Wabash had a chance to cut the lead to four points with under a minute left when Dawes stole the ball on Valley's end and eventually found Heather Fox for a wide-open three-point try. Fox's shot rimmed in and out, essentially ending the Apaches' threat.
Valley had a chance to blow the game open in the first quarter. Wabash turned the ball over on its first seven possessions but the Vikings couldn't capitalize. After the Apaches' early struggles, Valley had just a 6-0 lead, with all six points coming on free throws.
"I thought our defensive pressure was good. We had them turn it over 12 times in the first quarter but we only turned it into six points. People tend to forget that this is a new team and a new season, these kids are trying to find each other. They want to play well, it's their first home game so I think we were playing too fast," said Valley head coach Gary Teel.
Teel watched as his team slowed down and put together their longest offensive run of the game late in the opening quarter. A Rhoades' three-pointer started things as Valley reeled off 12 straight points to finish the first quarter with a 20-7 lead.
The Vikings struggled all evening from the field shooting a less than stellar 18 of 48 (37.5 percent). Valley was able to connect on clutch shots when they needed to.
Wabash outscored Valley 8-2 to start the second quarter before Holli Jackson's jumper kick started an 8-2 Viking run to push their lead to double digits once again.
Valley was led in scoring on the evening by Kara Kramer's 16 points. Kramer wasn't sharp from the field but was able to drive and draw fouls. The 5-foot-9 senior finished the evening 8 of 13 from the free throw line.
"She's the catalyst that gets the team going," said Teel of Kramer. "Like tonight, when she's off shooting she needs to step up defensively like she did. But she shouldn't stop shooting either because all good shooters will come back to the game."
Rhoades was also solid for Valley scoring 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting to follow up her 18-point performance in the Vikings season opener at Bremen. She finished with five steals and five rebounds as well.
Jackson stepped up both offensively and defensively for Valley and ended the night with 11 points, six rebounds and four steals.
While Valley was able to create turnovers on defense, they created quite a few on offense as well. The Vikings turned the ball over 23 times on the night and added poor free throw shooting, 20 of 32 (62.5 percent) to accompany the low field goal average.
Despite the struggles on offense, Teel sees this team's upside.
"I'm excited about these kids. It's going to be a maturation process. It's going to take them some time to click together," said Teel.
Valley's biggest litmus test of the young season comes against Warsaw Friday at the Tiger Den. Last year, the Vikings upset the then No. 1 state-ranked Tigers 54-45 for Valley's first win over Warsaw since 1981. Warsaw was ranked No. 7 in the Midwest at the time as well.
This year's versions of both teams are quite different from last year but payback may be a back-story.
"As far as going into the Warsaw game, we're going to have to play better. I'm not going to analyze what we're going to do or how they're going to play. We're going to play the best we can. We'll use this game as a learning tool and come out and try to play better against Warsaw," said Teel.
Valley is 2-0 overall and Friday night's tip-off against Warsaw is set for 7:45 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]