Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WILLOW WOOD — Meatloaf sang that “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.” And four out of five dentists prefer Trident gum.

But Symmes Valley Lady Vikings’ coach Brandon Walker is greedy. He wants 4-out-of-4.

Leading after three quarters, the Lady Vikings scored just 4 points in the fourth quarter and the Portsmouth Notre Dame Lady Titans rallied for a 62-52 Southern Ohio Conference win on Wednesday.

“We played well, but for the second straight game we hit a lull at the wrong time,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Brandon Walker. “We have to put four quarters together to be successful.”

The biggest problem for the Lady Vikings was 27 turnovers.

“We have to get better at limiting our turnovers and we have to do a better job with our rebounding,” said Walker.

“But give credit to (coach) J.D. (McKenzie) and those kids at Notre Dame a lot of credit. They have a nice ball club and they should make a nice tournament run.”

Symmes Valley (7-12, 4-7) was led by Jensyn Shepherd with 15 points and six rebounds. Kaitlyn Payne added 10 points, five rebounds and five steals while Breanna Brumfield had 8 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Notre Dame (15-4, 10-2) had three players in double figures as Ragen Kayser had 16, Lexi Smith 15 and Brooke Pierron 14.

Pierron scored 8 points including a pair of 3-pointers as the Titans took a 16-11 first quarter lead.

The Lady Vikings got within 33-30 at the half as Shepherd scored 7 points — she was 5-of-5 at the line — and Brumfield and Payne scored 5 each in the second quarter.

Payne had 5 more points as six different players scored in the third quarter to give the Lady Vikings a 48-47 lead.

But the Lady Vikings managed just four foul shots by Shepherd in the fourth quarter and the Lady Titans were 7-of-15 at the line and Smith hit a pair of basket in the comeback.

The Lady Vikings host Portsmouth Clay at noon on Saturday.

Notre Dame 16 17 14 15 = 62

Sym. Valley 11 19 18 4 = 52

PORTSMOUTH NOTRE DAME (15-4, 10-2): Molly Hoover 0 0 0-0 0, Maggie Hoover 0 0 2-2 2, Lauren Edwards 2 0 1-4 5, Brooke Pierron 4 2 0-2 14, Hagen Schaefer 2 1 3-5 10, Ragen Kayser 7 0 2-5 16, Lexi Smith 6 0 3-6 15. Totals: 21 3 11-24 62. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Smith.

SYMMES VALLEY (7-12, 4-7): Sierra Ross 0 0 0-0 0, Breanna Brumfield 2 1 1-2 8, Elly Fulks 2 0 0-0 4, Meranda Hayes 2 0 0-0 4, Kaitlyn Payne 4 0 2-4 10, Maddie Scott 2 0 1-2 5, Payton Walsh 3 0 0-0 6, Jensyn Shepherd 3 0 9-9 15. Totals: 19-56 13-17 52. 3-point goals: 1-12. Rebounds: 14-off., 19-def. = 33 (Shepherd 6, Brumfield 5, Payne 5, Hayes 4). Assists: 12 (Walsh 4, Brumfield 3). Steals: 18 (Walsh 5, Payne 5, Hayes 3, Brumfield 3). Turnovers: 27. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None.