by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
ASHVILLE — Teays Valley went from being tied late in the third to up 12 on the way to an opening-round 57-47 tournament win over Olentangy Orange.
“I tip my hat to experience, but I really tip my hat to Abby Tier, our point guard, keeping us in our offense, keeping us calm, cool and collected,” TV coach Trevor Younkin said. “I also tip my hat to Alyssa Horsley. Horsley did a great job feeding the inside post and also hitting shots on the outside.”
The Vikings had a 28-23 lead to start the second half, but the Pioneers converted three defensive rebounds into a 31-28 lead two minutes into the quarter. The lead changed hands a couple of time and a three from Orange’s Bella Thorn tied the game at 38-38 with 2:25 to go.
Horsley sunk a three-pointer to start a TV run. Kennedy Younkin followed with a three-point play and Horsley put in another basket to put the Vikings up 46-38 entering the fourth.
Horsley started the scoring in the fourth and Younkin made a steal and turned it into a layup for a 50-38 lead.
TV mixed in baskets from Tessa Horsley, Gabrielle Watkins and Younkin around a couple of Orange scores to get its biggest lead at 57-41 before Orange scored the last six points of the game.
Coach Younkin said the problems at the start of the second half were not a stranger to his team.
“I’m going to say this in a laughing way, I want to say that the girls sometimes don’t listen to us at halftime,” he said. “I think they’re so excited about the game because the third quarter gives us a fit. They came out and they take the lead. You give a team a little bit of hope — look out.”
The experience and leadership from their four playing seniors – Alyssa Horsley, Tier, Watkins and Younkin – shown at the end of the game as the Vikings were able to run their offense and work some time off the clock.
“Right there, why be in a hurry? We had a nice 10-point lead, let’s look to extend it. There’s no reason to rush a shot. Let’s get the best shot, not the quickest shot,” coach Younkin said.
Alyssa Horsley finished as the game’s leading scorer with 17 points while Tessa Horsley had 15 and Younkin had 13. Tier and Watkins each had six.
Younkin grabbed nine rebounds as TV had a 28-23 rebounding edge.
Kylie Perone led Orange with 11 points and eight rebounds.
The No. 14 seed Vikings (15-8) head to Columbus to take on No. 13 St. Francis DeSales Saturday. As the higher seed, DeSales will host the 1 p.m. game.
The Vikings beat the Stallions 40-30 in December.
“One of their best players was out, so it’s going to be a nice little battle,” coach Younkin said. “They have very athletic forwards, and we’ll see what goes on. We’re going to be the underdogs and sometimes being the underdog is a good thing.”
Teays Valley 57, Olentangy Orange 47
Orange — Bella Thorn 3-2-9, Ava Baccio 4-0-8, Mairin O’Brien 2-0-4, Malinda Wandkte 2-0-5, Maddie Yanka 2-0-5, Ava Ongara 2-0-5, Kylie Perone 4-2-11. Three-point goals — Thorn, Wandtke, Yanka, Ongara, Perone. Total — 19-48 4-6 47.
Teays Valley — Gabrielle Watkins 2-0-6, Abby Tier 1-4-6, Kennedy Younkin 6-1-13, Alyssa Horsley 7-2-17, Tessa Horsley 7-1-15. Three-point goals — Watkins (2), A Horsley. Total — 17-45 8-9 57.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Orange 12 11 15 9 47
Teays Valley 15 13 18 11 57
