Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

NEW BOSTON — Just like a rubber ball, the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings bounce right back.
After falling to AP No. 4-ranked Portsmouth Notre Dame on Wednesday, the Lady Vikings came right back on Thursday to beat the New Boston Lady Tigers 55-39 in a Southern Ohio Conference game.
“It was a nice bounce back win for us,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Shannon Pierce. “We started slowly, but we came out in the third quarter and took control of the game.”
Desiree Simpson led the Lady Vikings with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals. Morgan Lyons had 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals while Kelsi Gothard had 3 steals.
Cadence Williams scored 17 points and Kenzie Whitley added 12 for New Boston.
The Lady Vikings led just 10-8 after the first quarter and Lyons hit a 3-pointer and Jenna Malone scored 3 of her 9 points.
Lyons had 4 more points in the second quarter as five different players scored and the lead went to 22-17 at the break.
But then came the third quarter and the Lady Vikings took charge and asserted themselves by outscoring New Boston 23-12 to open up a 45-29 lead.
Simpson knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points and Lyons added 6 more to create the cushion.
Kenzie Whitley hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points for the Lady Tigers.
Simpson had 4 points in the fourth quarter as each team scored 10 points. Cadence Williams had 8 of the Lady Tigers’ points.
Sym. Valley 10 12 23 10 = 55
New Boston 8 9 12 10 = 39
SYMMES VALLEY (9-6, 8-2): Jenna Malone 4 0 1-2 9, Morgan Lyons 6 1 0-0 15, Jordan Ellison 1 0 0-0 2, Emma Casteel 0 0 0-0 0, Desiree Simpson 5 2 0-0 16, Enola Cade 0 0 0-2 0, Hailee Gordon 0 0 0-0 0, Kelsi Gothard 1 0 3-4 5, Spring Ross 4 0 0-0 8. Totals: 24-55 4-8 55. 3-pt goals: 3-12. Rebounds: 42 (Simpson 12, Lyons 7, Gothard 6, Malone 5). Assists: 11 (Lyons 4, Malone 3). Steals: 12 (Gothard 3, Lyons 3, Simpson 3). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 6. Fouled out: None.
NEW BOSTON (8-10, 6-6): Cadence Williams 5 1 4-5 17, Shelby Easter 2 0 0-0 4, Kenzie Whitley 3 2 0-0 12, Dylan O’Rourke 2 0 0-0 4, Cassie Williams 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 13 3 4-5 39. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.