Valley hangs on for late win, Potosi wins with threes

PARK HILLS — The Valley Lady Vikings led the entire game, but a  fourth-quarter charge by the Arcadia Valley Lady Tigers put their win in jeopardy before pulling out a 38-34 win.

The pesky Lady Tigers would not fold as they fought back from being 10 down to pull within two at 36-34 with 30 seconds left in the game. Jackie Thurman hit a three and scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter to make the comeback possible.

Arcadia Valley had a chance to tie but they turned the ball over on a travel call, and recovered Valley freshman Morgan Midgett made two free throws to finalize the score. In the third quarter, Midgett was fouled making a lay-up and upon crashing to the floor hard, she was unable to even shoot the free throw and had to leave the game until midway in the fourth.

Free throws made the difference in the end with the Lady Tigers only making 5-13, and the Lady Vikings connecting on 9-18. Valley had only one field goal in the fourth quarter, managing to only get off only two shots at the basket.

The opening of the game was taken over by Valley’s leading scorer Jessica Crocker and the Lady Vikings defense. The Lady Tigers first basket came with only 1:23 left in the quarter, and by that time Crocker had made four field goals giving Valley a 9-0 lead.

Thurman made the first basket for Arcadia Valley, and it was the last one the Lady Tigers would make in the half as Valley’s defense forced 18 turnovers before the break.

Crocker continued her assault on the scoreboard in the second quarter for 13 points in the first half and an 18-7 half-time score. Crocker led the Lady Vikings with 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Arcadia Valley readjusted their offense as well as their defense at the break and it proved worthwhile. They shut down Crocker for the most part, and forced Valley to turn the ball over 22 times. For the game, the Lady Tigers had only 25 turnovers of their own compared to Valley’s 30. 

Arcadia Valley’s offense got the ball to their leading scorer Brittany Asher more frequently. Asher scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half, and also had six rebounds and five steals to lead in both of those categories as well.

Valley will play Potosi on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the girls consolation final. Arcadia Valley will play next  at Central on Monday.

Arcadia Valley  4 3 13 14 – 34

Valley  9 9 9 11 – 38

Scoring:

Arcadia Valley – Asher 15, Thurman 11, Bone 3, Ra. Reynolds 3, Barton 2.  3-pt. FG – Thurman.

Valley – Crocker 19, Halbert 8, Ward 4, Midgett 4, Goggin 3.   3-pt. FG – none.

Potosi 59, Kingston 35

“We finally had someone to play zone against us so we could shoot the three,” said Potosi coach Curt Finley after they performed a three-point exposition for a 59-35 win over the Kingston Lady Cougars.

The Potosi Lady Trojans shot 55 percent from beyond the arc, making 11 three-pointers in the game out of 20 attempts against Kingston’s zone.

Potosi’s threes came in quarterly waves. Lyndsey Portell made two in a row in the first quarter, and Jordan Harbison swished the net three times in the second quarter.

The three-point artist of the day was Ashley Duncan who connected on 6-8, making five in the third quarter and one in the fourth to finish the game with 20 points to lead all players in scoring.

Kingston used the three-ball sparingly, but it gave them their first and only lead. Jacie Missey hit a three to put the Lady Cougars up 7-2 before Portell’s bombs helped the Lady Trojans finish the quarter with a 12-0 run.

The Lady Cougars wer led in scoring by Emilee Dicus with 16 points, going 5-5 from the line and also making three steals.

Harbison scored all 12 of her points in the second quarter, and the game was no longer a contest for which team would advance on to the consolation final on Saturday.

Ashley Thompson led Potosi in rebounding, pulling down seven of her team’s 27 rebounds. Miranda Politte had eight boards for Kingston out of their 31.

Valley plays Potosi on Saturday at 10 a.m., and Kingston will host Bismarck on Monday in conference make-up action. 

Kingston  7 11 5 12 – 35

Potosi  14 18 19 8 – 59

Scoring:

Kingston – Dicus 16, Missey 7, Guenther 6, Politte 4, Govero 2.  3-pt. FG – Missey, Dicus.

Potosi – Duncan 20, Harbison 12, Thompson 8, Portell 8, Smith 6, Logsden 2, Bourbon 2, Dean 1.  3-pt. FG – Duncan 6, Harbison 3, Portell 2.