NEW BOSTON — Visiting Valley outscored New Boston 11-2 in the final quarter, and posted a 41-27 non-conference girls basketball win on Thursday at New Boston High School’s Homer Pelligrinon Gymnasium.
The Lady Indians (4-3) did not allow a New Boston (4-5) field goal in the fourth quarter, and broke open an 18-18 tie at halftime.
“In the first half we had some girls out of position on defense and we talked about that,” Valley head coach Tyson Phillips said. “We gave up some open looks to them and we had to address that and get it fixed. We focused on team-side defense, and it showed in the second half. It worked out well.”
Freshman guard Carly Metzler opened the fourth quarter with a spin move for a bucket, followed by a runner in the paint by Lexie Morrow for a 34-25 Lady Indian lead.
Then Metzler, who had six rebounds, pulled down a defensive board and went coast-to-coast for a layup, followed by a Kelsey LeBrun zip pass to a wide-open Ella Thompson under the basket — for the short bank shot and the 38-25 lead.
Morrow led the way for Valley with 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Metzler scored all of her nine points in the second half.
Thompson added 14 points and four rebounds in the win, and was 3-for-3from the free-throw line.
“We moved the ball around and shared it well,” Phillips said. “We just need to knock down shots. I don’t think our shooting percentage is where it needs to be. We struggled a bit in the first half and seemed to hit more shots in the second half.”
The Lady Tigers grabbed a brief 23-22 lead — when Cassie Williams banked in a runner early in the third quarter.
But back-to-back three-pointers from Thompson and Metzler boosted Valley’s lead to 28-23 with 3:21 to go in the third.
The Lady Tigers suffered a big blow when McKylie Voiers went down with an apparent knee injury midway through the third.
She did not return.
“Anytime you lose one of your starters that can have an impact on the confidence of others,” New Boston head coach Kayla Wiley said. “We were not running plays like we should after that. I feel like we fell apart after that happened in the middle of the third. We have to have some players step up when a starter goes down and I didn’t feel that anyone stepped up tonight.”
Brooklyn Boyer accounted for all the points in the first quarter, and gave the Lady Tigers a 9-8 lead.
Boyer, who finished the game with 17 points, broke a 14-14 tie with a left-handed shot off the glass.
The Lady Tigers grabbed a 14-10 lead when Voiers swished a three-pointer early in the second quarter.
After a Kaelyn Tabor layup gave the Lady Tigers a 18-16 lead, Thompson tied the game for Valley at the half with two free throws.
The Lady Indians closed out the second half with a 23-9 run.
New Boston was limited to two Boyer free throws in the fourth quarter.
“We wanted to be aggressive in the second half and pick up the pace and we did that,” Phillips said. “It’s good to see them out there playing hard. We had some mistakes, but it’s early in the season. Mistakes and turnovers will happen when you play hard. That’s okay.”
The win marks the second consecutive for the Lady Indians in this series, as Valley vanquished New Boston in last season’s Division IV sectional championship game at Valley.
It was a matchup of eight and nine seeds in the postseason tournament.
In fact, the two will meet again on Wednesday night —in the second game of two in the Lady Indians’ Holiday Tournament.
The Lady Tigers and New Boston will follow the first game —between South Point and Adena.
On Thursday night at Valley High School, the consolation contest takes place at 6 p.m. —with Wednesday’s winners meeting in the championship bout at 7:15.
* * *
Valley 8 10 12 11 – 41
New Boston 9 9 7 2 – 27
VALLEY 41 (4-3)
Kelsey LeBrun 1 0-0 2; Lexie Morrow 5 5-8 16; Carly Metzler 4 0-0 9; Ella Thompson 5 3-3 14; TOTALS 15 8-11 41; Three-point goals: 3 (Lexie Morrow, Ella Thompson and Carly Metzler 1 apiece)
NEW BOSTON 27 (4-5)
Arenda Gosselin 1 0-0 2; McKylie Voiers 1 1-2 4; Kaelyn Tabor 1 0-0 2; Brooklyn Boyer 6 4-4 17; Cassie Williams 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 10 5-6 27; Three-point goals: 2 (McKylie Voiers and Brooklyn Boyer 1 apiece)
