Vale Avenges Lone Blemish On Season Record

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John L. Braese

VALE – Back on Dec. 17, the Vale girl’s basketball team was rolling. Coming off an appearance at the Calvin Hiatt Memorial, the Vikings held a 4-0 record early in the season. Coming off a bus in La Grande, Vale suffered the team’s lone loss of the season to date as the Tigers beat up the Vikings, 40-28. In the defeat, the Viks shot 0-for-13 from the three-point line.

Fast forward to Saturday, Jan. 11. The Vikings put together seven straight wins and were back on the home court with the Tigers in town. La Grande stepped onto the Vale floor, also with a single loss to date, a game to a Washington team to start the season.

This time, the matchup between a top 4A versus a top 3A went much different than the previous as Vale downed La Grande 48-34 in nonleague play.

The Tigers fell behind early in this game, scoring only a single basket and two free throws in the first quarter for a total of four points. The second quarter did not fare much better as La Grande showed only 10 points for a half of basketball. Staying away from the perimeter shooting and going inside, Vale scored 28 points in the first half.

Attempting to play catch up in the second half, the Tigers had their best quarter in the third, adding 14 points to their total before ending the loss with eight points in the final eight minutes. The Vikings cruised through the second half, putting up 20 points in a balanced night of scoring.

Kesley Stepleton led the Viking win with 13 points aided by Brynlee Hartley’s 10 points. Bailey Blake ended her game with seven points.

For La Grande, Kayle Collman also had 13 points but the Tigers saw the scoring drop off after Collman with Taryn Mcilmoil and Olivia Pennington each chipping in six points.

Both squads stayed away from the perimeter shooting with only seven baskets finding the mark from the three-point arc. The Vikings were impressive from the free throw line, ending the game 8-for-10 while La Grande shot a respectable 8-for-14.