Lady Warriors play bracket-buster at Kennedy Tournament

By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

MANCHESTER - If the Valle Lady Warriors were not respected before the start of the Kennedy Christmas Tournament, then they are now.

Despite having just one loss when the bracket was drawn, the Lady Warriors were given the lowest possible seed in the eight-team field. However, Valle made an emphatic statement on Tuesday with a stunning 44-31 triumph over the top seed, Jennings.

Valle (7-1) trailed by four at the conclusion of the first quarter, but rallied for 19-15 halftime lead. The Lady Warriors maintained a four-point edge heading into the fourth quarter, where they pulled away by outscoring Jennings, 16-7.

Free-throw shooting provided a means of separation on the scoreboard between the two clubs. Valle nearly doubled its opponent in attempts from the stripe, hitting 15-28. Jennings converted just 6-15 free throws.

Kara Schilli led all scorers with 20 points. Sara Hermann tallied 10 points while Angie Herzog added eight for Valle. Maria Bratcher scored 15 points to pace Jennings (3-4).

Valle will face the fifth seed, DuBourg in the semi-finals tonight at 6:30 p.m. DuBourg scored a minor upset on Tuesday by defeating St. Pius 49-45.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Zalma 70, Valle 54

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Saxony Lutheran Tournament in Cape Girardeau began with a battle of winless teams on Tuesday night. The Valle Warriors were unable to complete their comeback bid after falling behind early in a 70-54 loss to the Zalma Bulldogs.

Zalma led 19-9 after the first quarter and 36-23 at halftime. Valle (0-7) managed to trim its deficit to single digits on a couple of occasions in the second half, but a team total of 21 turnovers was too much to overcome.

Nathan Grass scored 18 points to lead the Warriors. Sean Odneal chipped in 12 points and Keith Basler added eight. Adam Pixley posted a game-high 21 points for Zalma, while Daniel Schroeder collected 13.

Valle will continue round-robin action this evening at 6 p.m. against Christ Our Savior Lutheran of Illinois.