Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

ROCKSPRINGS — The Symmes Valley Lady Vikings know what a yo-yo feels like.
The Lady Vikings would get close, then fall behind, get close again, then fall back and get close again, etc.
Unfortunately, the Federal Hocking Lady Lancers finally were able to avoid “the draw back” trick and do the “loop the loop” to a 52-44 win in the Division IV sectional tournament finals on Thursday.
“The girls played hard and they fought from start to finish,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Alvin Carpenter.
“We kept getting close but we just couldn’t get over the hump. I can’t fault our effort.”
The Lady Vikings fell behind as many as 14 but got as close as one, two, three and four points before the Lady Lancer finally put the game away.
Symmes Valley was led by Jensyn Shepherd with 12 points and three blocked shots.
Payton Walsh added nine points while Sierra Ross had nine rebounds and three assists.
Kaitlyn Crabtree and Kassie Baldwin had three steals each for the Lady Vikings who finished the season 15-8.
“The girls played hard all year. Walsh, Baldwin and Ross were our three seniors and they gave us good leadership all year.”
Destiny Tabler scored 26 points to go with eight rebounds, five steals and two blocked shots to lead the Lady Lancers. Hannah Dunfee added 16 points including three 3-pointers.
Symmes Valley took a 4-0 and 5-2 lead to begin the game, but Federal Hocking rallied to go up 7-5 and never trailed the rest of the game.
The Lady Vikings trailed 15-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Lancers opened up their biggest lead of the game at 23-9 in the second quarter.
After trailing 27-19 at the half, the Lady Vikings outscored Federal Hocking 12-5 in the third quarter to get within 32-31.
But the Lady Lancers (13-10) went on an 8-0 run to begin the fourth quarter to lead 40-31.
Symmes Valley recovered and cut the deficit to 40-38, but the Lady Lancers scored five unanswered points and never let the lead get to be less than four points the rest of the game.
Federal Hocking will now play at 6:15 p.m. next Thursday at Jackson High School against Portsmouth Notre Dame.
Fed. Hocking    15    12    5    20    =    52
Sym. Valley    7    12    12    13    =    44
FEDERAL HOCKING (13-10): Audrey Blake 0 0 0-0 0, Kayli McPherson 1 0 1-2 3, Britnie Jackson 1 1 0-0 5, Destiny Tabler 7 1 7-7 26, Hannah Dunfee 2 3 3-4 16, Skylar Hatfield 0 0 0-0 0, Tamika Mayle 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 17-47 11-13 52. 3-point goals: 7-19. Rebounds: 26 (Tabler 8). Assists: 11 (Blake 4). Steals: 10 (Tabler 5). Blocked shots: 3 (Tabler 2). Turnovers: 20. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.
SYMMES VALLEY (15-8): Kaitlyn Crabtree 1 1 1-6 5, Jensyn Shepherd 6 0 0-0 12, Sierra Ross 2 0 3-4 7, Kassie Baldwin 1 1 0-0 5, Payton Walsh 1 1 4-4 9, Rachael Hayes 0 2 0-0 6, Taylor Sells 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-46 8-14 44. 3-point goals: 4-19. Rebounds: 36 (Ross 9). Assists: 7 (Ross 3). Steals: 11 (Baldwin 3, Crabtree 3). Blocked shots: 4 (Shepherd 3). Turnovers: 24. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.