Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

WILLOW WOOD — East had the pace they wanted.  The Symmes Valley Lady Vikings had the defense they wanted.
The Lady Vikings used their defense to foil the Sciotoville East Lady Tartans slowdown tactics as they posted a 49-37 Southern Ohio Conference win on Thursday.
“They’re a good team and they have to really good offensive players, but we did a good job defensively,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Alvin Carpenter.
“East slowed the pace of the game but we were able to adjust to the tempo and play pretty well except for a few spots.”
Kassie Baldwin had a career-high 13 points and had three assists and four steals to lead the Lady Vikings (12-5, 8-3).
Jensyn Shepherd had 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots while Kaitlyn Crabtree had 13 rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots for Symmes Valley. Sierra Ross added four steals and three assists.
Shay Brown scored 16 and Payton Helpenstein 11 for East.
The Lady Vikings took a 20-10 first quarter lead as Payton Walsh scored all eight of her points. Helpenstein had six for East.
Brown scored six points in the second quarter as East cut the deficit to 32-25. Shepherd scored six for the Lady Vikings.
The scoring was slow in the third quarter as the Lady Vikings took a 39-31 lead.
But Ross scored all eight of her points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Vikings sealed the win.
Symmes Valley visits South Gallia on Saturday and hosts Portsmouth West on Monday.
Sciotoville    10    15    6    6    =    37
Sym. Valley    20    12    7    10    =    49
SCIOTOVILLE EAST (NA): Shay Brown 5 1 3-9 16, Payton Helpenstein 1 3 0-0 11, Brianna Humble 4 0 0-0 8, Kianna Day 0 0 2-4 2, Jasomyn Frautschy 0 0 0-0 0, Megan Carver 0 0 0-0 0, Jasmine Smith 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 4 5-13 37. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None.
SYMMES VALLEY (12-5, 8-3): Kaitlyn Crabtree 2 0 4-6 8, Jensyn Shepherd 5 0 2-2 12, Sierra Ross 1 2 0-0 8, Kassie Baldwin 5 1 0-0 13, Payton Walsh 1 2 0-0 8, Taylor Sells 0 0 0-0 0, Rachael Hayes 0 0 0-0 0, Kinsey Kazee 0 0 0-0 0, Hailee Littlejohn 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-51 6-8 49. 3-point goals: 5-14. Rebounds: 38 (Crabtree 13, Shepherd 12). Assists: 11 (Ross 4, Baldwin 3, Walsh 3). Blocked shots: 7 (Shepherd 3, Crabtree 3). Steals: 14 (Crabtree 5, Baldwin 4, Ross 4). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.