WILLOW WOOD - Ugly wins are better than a pretty loss any day. Just ask the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings.

Symmes Valley was guilty of 25 turnovers but still held on to beat the Eastern Lady Eagles 40-31 Thursday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

"A win is a win and I will take a win no matter what, but it was one of the ugliest wins I have ever witnessed," Lady Vikings coach Lisa Bryant said.

"We did not take care of the ball very well. The girls did a nice job on the defensive end, but did not execute well on the offensive end."

Leslie Floyd led a balanced offense with 8 points, three rebounds and three steals. Rebecca Capper hauled down six rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Symmes Valley took a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, then held Eastern to 3 points in the second quarter to lead 24-13 at the break.

Neither team could generate much offense in the third quarter as Eastern outscored the Lady Vikings 6-3 and it was 27-19.

The Lady Vikings clinched the game over the final 40 seconds with Floyd making 4 of 4 free throws, Capper 3 of 4 and Ashley Wilson 2 of 2.

"The free throws won this game tonight," Bryant said. "Give credit to Eastern. They never gave up the whole game."

Helton had 12 points to lead Eastern, 7-4 overall ad 4-3 in the SOC.

Eastern103612-31

Sym. Valley1410313-40

BEAVER EASTERN (7-4, 4-3):

D. Ison 0 0 2-2 2, K. Ison 1 0 3-6 5, B. Helton 1 2 4-8 12, K. Tackett 0 0 0-2 0, C. Howard 3 0 2-2 8, H. Berry 2 0 0-2 4. Totals: 7

(2)

11-22

31. Fouls; 16. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (8-3, 5-2):

Rebecca Capper 1 0 3-4 5, Brittney Wilson 1 0 0-0 2, Kayla Saunders 1 0 0-1 2, Megan Coomes 3 0 1-2 7, Leslie Floyd 2 0 4-4 8, Ashley Wilson 1 0 4-6 6, Emily Bowling 2 0 0-2 4, Brigette Thompson 2 0 0-0 4, Tiffany Bryant 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 14-45

(0)

12-19

40. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 26 (Capper 6, Bryant 5, Coomes 4, Floyd 3). Assists: 9 (Capper 7). Steals: 17 (Floyd 4, Capper 3, Coomes 2). Turnovers: 25.