Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

ROCKSPRINGS — The “D” in defense stands for “dominating.”

The Symmes Valley Lady Vikings used a dominating defensive effort as they beat the South Gallia Lady Rebels 43-29 on Tuesday in the Division IV sectional tournament.

The Lady Vikings’ defense held South Gallia to 26.5 shooting (13-of-49 field goals) and forced 26 turnovers.

They were just one-of-12 from the 3-point line but only attempted one in the second half.

Symmes Valley was 18-of-49 from the field for 37 percent.

“We told them at halftime to be patient and get the ball inside and not just settle for jumpers,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Brandon Walker.

“Our defense is where we created our offense. We caused turnovers that we were able to scored off of.”

Symmes Valley (10-13) will now play top-seeded South Webster at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

Neither team shot well coming out of the gate. The Lady Vikings were 3-of-14 from the field in the first quarter and South Gallia 2-of-15 and the game was 6-6 at the end of the stanza.

Four different players scored in the second quarter as South Gallia took a 14-13 halftime lead. Sierra Ross had 4 points in the quarter for Symmes Valley.

The Lady Vikings’ defense turned the game in the third quarter as they forced eight turnovers and six missed shots on South Gallia’s first 14 possessions of the quarter.

Meranda Hayes scored 10 points in the quarter as the Lady Vikings took 27-16 lead.

Hayes continued with the hot hand as she scored 8 points in the fourth quarter while Elly Fulks added 4 points and the Lady Vikings extended the lead to as many as 20 points in the quarter.

Hayes finished with 20 points to lead the Lady Vikings.

Maddie Scott grabbed eight rebounds, Breanna Brumfield six. Kaitlyn Payne had five rebounds, five assists and six steals for Symmes Valley.

MiKayla Poling had 8 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead the Lady Rebels (8-15) who lost their third straight. Ashley Northrup had six rebounds.

The win was the fourth straight for the Lady Vikings who previously beat South Gallia 49-41 and 44-41 during the regular season.

Sym. Valley 6 7 14 16 = 43

South Gallia 6 8 2 13 = 29

SYMMES VALLEY (11-12): Sierra Ross 0 1 1-2 4, Breanna Brumfield 0 0 2-2 2, Elly Fulks 2 0 3-4 7, Meranda Hayes 10 0 0-0 20, Kaitlyn Payne 2 0 0-2 4, Maddie Scott 0 0 0-0 0, Payton Walsh 1 0 0-0 2, Jensyn Shepherd 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 18-49 6-10 43. 3-point goals: 1-12. Rebounds: 32 (Scott 8, Brumfield 6, Payne 5, Hayes 4). Assists: 10 (Payne 5, Walsh 3). Steals: 12 (Payne 6). Turnovers: 24. Blocked shots: 4 (Ross, Brumfield, Payne, Walsh 1 each). Turnovers: 24. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.

SOUTH GALLIA (8-15): MiKayla Poling 4 0 0-0 8, Ashley Northup 1 0 0-0 2, Aaliya Howell 1 0 0-1 2, Erin Evans 0 0 0-0 0, Courtney Haner 1 0 0-0 2, Sarah Bailey 1 1 2-4 7, Caitlyn Vanscoy 2 0 0-0 4, Kaite Bostic 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 13-49 2-5 29. 3-point goals: 1-16. Rebounds: 28 (Poling 8, Northup 6, Evans 5, Bostic 4). Assists: 7 (Poling 5). Steals: 16 (Poling 5, Northup 3). Turnovers: 26. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.