The Valley City Hi-Liners and Kindred Vikings girls basketball teams would square off Thursday in what would turn out to be a thrilling contest that came down to the wire.

Kindred would take an early 5-0 lead behind the play of Laela Eisenschenk and Liza Trenbeath as the Hi-Liners would struggle out of the gate. The Hi-Liner’s full-court press, though, would finally start to make an impact midway through the quarter as they closed out the first on a 19-5 run to take a nine-point lead into the second quarter. The second quarter would again see the Vikings get out to a start as they whittled the Valley City lead down to one possession. Valley City, however, would once again rally using team basketball to hold off the Viking charge to cruise into the locker room with a 30-23 lead at the half.

Another early Kindred run would again mark the start of a quarter as the Vikings cut the lead back down to one possession. The Hi-Liner defense, though, would spark a run of their own as the third quarter would end with Valley City leading 46-36.

The fourth quarter would be a slow starting affair for both sides as neither could get the offense going as Valley City looked to ride their press to a win. However, the Vikings would erupt for one last defiant run that would tie the game at 55-55 with just under two minutes remaining. Katie Burchill would respond out of the timeout with a layup that gave the Hi-Liners a lead they would not relinquish. A combination of good defense and the foul shooting of Tesa Olson, who finished with a team-high 22 points, sealed a 67-60 win for the Hi-Liners as they closed the game on a 12-5 run.

Next up for Valley City will be a road matchup against Devils Lake on December 22nd.

 

Ivy Real Estate Group Player of the Game: Tesa Olson