Valley girls pull away from Springdale with late surge

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, December 27, 2017 | 9:18 PM

When the Valley and Springdale girls basketball teams met at the season-opening Springdale tournament Dec. 9, the Vikings earned a 16-point victory.

Tuesday’s rematch was closer, but Valley won again, 37-31, behind Auveonna Perkins’ game-best 12 points.

“It definitely feels good to get another win under our belts,” said Perkins, who added 12 rebounds. “It shows how much we’ve been working on trying to improve this season. Hopefully, all the spectators can see all the work we’ve been putting into this foundation.”

The Vikings (2-4) move to the final at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Clairton, a 51-17 winner over Yough.

Springdale fell to 0-7. The Dynamos will take on Yough in the consolation game at 5. Something will have to give in that matchup as Springdale has lost 24 in a row, and the Cougars are hoping to snap a 21-game losing skid.

While there were numerous turnovers and missed shots between the Vikings and Dynamos, both coaches were happy with their team’s hustle and aggressiveness in a game that was close well into the final quarter.

“It was good to again be in a competitive game late in the fourth quarter,” Springdale coach John Broderick said. “Our reactions need to get quicker as the game speeds up in those situations. But we’ll grow and learn from that.”

Valley led 28-22 at the end of the third and hoped to put the game away, but Springdale opened the fourth with a 6-0 run. Katlyn Nagy began the run with two free throws, and after a foul shot from Julia Parfitt, Caitlyn Ullger made a 3-pointer to tie the score.

But the Dynamos then went scoreless for almost four minutes as Valley built a 33-28 advantage. Adriona Lyons converted a free throw and a layup, and Perkins added two free throws.

The Vikings remained aggressive offensively after taking the lead, but, Kerr said, he was hoping his players would possess the ball more and drain the clock.

“When you don’t have the lead a lot at the end of games, it’s a learning experience on how to handle those situations,” he said. “They rushed things at the end and took some shots we didn’t want them to take, but our defense didn’t give them much at the end.”

Springdale rallied from an 11-5 deficit at the end of the first quarter and led 18-15 at the half. But Valley controlled the third, outscoring the Dynamos, 13-2.

Jazlynn Robb scored 10 points to lead Springdale, which got 14 rebounds from Becca Selzer, 12 rebounds from Gabby Yost and 10 boards from Julia Parfitt. Deaisha James and Madison Hill grabbed 10 and nine rebounds, respectively.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.