SCIOTOVILLE — Everyone is looking for a deal around Christmas. Well, the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings got a steal.

The Lady Vikings had 18 steals to highlight a strong defensive effort as they beat the Sciotoville East Lady Tartans 51-28 Thursday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

Brooke Skinner, Jessie Morris and Erica Corn had five steals each for the Lady Vikings (2-1, 2-0).

“I can’t say enough about our kids’ defensive effort tonight,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Lisa Bryant. “Each night we seem to be getting better on the defensive end.”

Skinner had 15 points and 11 rebounds to go with her steals. Morris had 14 points, five assists and six rebounds. Corn added 8 points.

Despite the win, Bryant wasn’t happy with a 22 for 61 shooting performance.

“We are still not shooting well, but we did shoot better than the last two games. I have told the kids that those shots will fall eventually,” said Bryant.

The Lady Vikings took a 12-5 first quarter lead and pulled away to a 27-10 lead at the break.

East cut the deficit to 37-22 after three quarters before the Lady Vikings outscored East 14-6 in the fourth quarter to win going away.

Williams had 9 points for East (0-2, 0-2).

“We held Williams to 9 points She is a nice player. She got a couple of 3s, but we held her to two points in the fourth quarter,” said Bryant.

Symmes Valley hosts Portsmouth Clay Monday in a conference game.

Symmes Valley 12 15 10 14 = 51

Sciotoville East 5 5 12 6 = 28

SYMMES VALLEY (2-1, 2-0): Nikki Nance 2 0 2-2 6, Brooke Skinner 7 0 1-3 15, Chelsea Wall 0 0 2-4 2, Jessie Morris 7 0 0-5 14, Kayla Hayes 2 0 0-1 2, Erica Corn 4 0 0-0 8, Ada Humphrey 0 0 2-4 2, Caitie Bloomfield 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 0 7-19 51. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Skinner 11, Morris 6, Nance 4. Steals: Skinner 5, Morris 5, Corn 5, Nance 3. Assists: Morris 5.

SCIOTOVILLE EAST (0-2, 0-2): Dingess 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 2 3-5 9, Swords 0 0 1-2 1, Wollard 0 0 0-0 0, Bennett 2 0 1-2 5, Jewell 0 0 0-0 0, Kelley 0 0 0-0 0, Fisher 1 0 0-1 2, Lang 5 0 1-4 11, Monroe 0 0 0-0 0, Newell 0 0 0-00. Totals: 8 2 6-14 28. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.

New Boston 51, Green 33

FRANKLIN FURNACE — There was an 18-minute gap in the Watergate tapes during Richard Nixon’s presidency that was unexplained.

The Green Lady Bobcats had a four-minute gap that coach Bucky Bridges couldn’t explain in a 51-33 loss to the New Boston Lady Tigers Thursday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

“We hung in there except for about four minutes in the third quarter. I can’t explain it. We picked it back up in the fourth quarter, but it was too late,” said Green coach Bucky Bridges. “We played hard, but we struggled.”

Adrianne Blankenship was held to 8 points for Green (1-1, 1-1), but she still had 9 rebounds. Lauren Jones had 9 points and 5 rebounds.

“They double teamed (Blankenship) the whole game and no one would step up,” said Bridges.

Missy Buckley had 23 points and Michelle Harding 10 to lead New Boston (3-0, 2-0).

Green was down 11-7 at the end of the first quarter and 25-16 at the half. New Boston outscored Green 18-8 in the third quarter to open up a 43-24 lead.

Green (1-1, 1-1) plays at Latham Western on Monday.

New Boston 11 14 18 8 = 51

Green 7 9 8 9 = 33

NEW BOSTON (3-0, 2-0): Michelle Harding 4 0 2-3 10, Christian Lykins 1 0 1-2 3, Shawna Buckley 2 0 0-0 2, Missy Buckley 1 4 9-12 23, Michelle Hamilton 2 0 1-1 5, Missy Raines 2 0 2-6 6. Totals: 12 4 15-27 51. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Harding.

GREEN (1-1, 1-1): Hannah Collett 0 0 0-0 0, Gidget Timberman 1 0 1-1 3, Ali Suttle 0 1 0-1 3, Sam Norwood 0 0 0-0 0, Carlee Pollard 2 0 0-3 4, Brianna Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Adrianne Blankenship 1 0 6-7 8, Lauren Jones 2 0 5-13 9, Dinah McCloud 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 9 1 12-25 33. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Blankenship. Rebounds: 34 (Blankenship 9, Jones 5, Timberman 6, Pollard 10).