Lady Vikes fight hard, but fail to win

The Ventura girls fought hard, but failed to bring home a win last week, as they dropped a conference and a non-conference game.
North Iowa 40, Ventura 34
    The Lady Vikes put up a good fight against North Iowa on Monday, Dec. 19, but it wasn’t enough as the Bison picked up a 40-34 non-conference win.

    The first half saw back and forth scoring between the two teams with North Iowa gaining a slight one point advantage, 15-14, at halftime.
    Following the break, North Iowa picked it up and managed to pull ahead by 10 points in the third quarter.  The Lady Vikes didn’t give up, however, as they battled back to bring the score to within three in the fourth quarter, before the Bison caught some lucky breaks to capture the final victory.
    “We were poor in all phases of the game tonight.  We gave up fast break baskets and when we played good initial half court defense we seemed to bail them out with fouls,” said Coach Rod Huber.
    Emily Mathews was the team’s only bright spot, collecting 18 points and 12 rebounds.  She had seven steals, two blocked shots and one assist.
    “We need to find that second and third scorer to help take some pressure off of Emily,” said Huber.
    Also scoring for the team was Hallie Hall and Emily Spilman with five points apiece.  Courtney Younge, Olivia Hackbarth and Morgan Ames all had two points each. 
    Hall collected five rebounds and Ames had four rebounds.  Spilman, Shelby Rayhons and Ames all collected two steals apiece.  Sydney Younge had three blocked shots.

WB-M 32, Ventura 26
    It was a close game from beginning to end for the Lady Vikes when they hosted West Bend Mallard on Tuesday, Dec. 20, in front of a huge home crowd.
    The Lady Vikes and Wolverines traded the lead throughout the game.  Following the first quarter, Ventura had the lead, 10-7, but by halftime, WB-M took the lead, 15-13.
    The third quarter was more of the same, with the Wolverines hanging on to a one point lead, 21-20.  Ventura’s Emily Mathews was pulled early in the fourth quarter with foul trouble.  The Lady Vikes committed some costly turnovers in the fourth quarter allowing the Wolverines to pull ahead and capture the 32-26 win.
    “We were able to clean up some of the defensive woes that plagued us against North Iowa, however - Read More via e-Edition