Lady Vikes roll with three big wins

The Ventura girls had a successful week, collecting three wins.
Ventura 35, Lake Mills 24
    Ventura held a comfortable lead throughout most of the contest against Lake Mills at home Monday, Jan. 9.  The Lady Vikes topped the Bulldogs, 35-24, in the non-conference showdown.
    Ventura came out strong and cruised to a 17-8 halftime lead.

    Following the break, the Lady Vikes had trouble getting back into the flow of the game, not scoring in the first four-and-one-half minutes of the second half.  Once the wheels started rolling, however, they picked up nine more points for a 26-17 lead at the end of the third quarter.
    Ventura held the lead throughout the fourth quarter for the 35-24 victory.
    “We played great defense throughout the game,” said Coach Rod Huber.  “We limited them to one shot most of the night and got some steals that led to easy layups.  We also had a successful night at the free-throw line, limiting them to six points, while we gained 22.”
    Emily Mathews led the team with 13 points.  Other leading scorers included Shelby Rayhons with seven and Emily Spilman collected six points.
    Mathews also led the team under the boards with 11 rebounds.  Rayhons grabbed seven, while Courtney Younge collected six and Morgan Ames grabbed five.
    Spilman was all over the floor for the Lady Vikes, collecting six steals for the team.

Ventura 40, CWL 33
    The Lady Vikes picked up a 40-33 conference victory over CWL on Tuesday night, Jan. 10.
    “You have to give credit to CWL’s coach for getting them ready to play; they have improved a ton since we played them the first time,” said Coach Huber.  “CWL really packed in their defense and forced us to shoot jump shots all night.”
    The Lady Vikes jumped to an early first quarter lead of 8-2, but they let the Panthers stay in the game with a 16-13 halftime lead.
    The score was within three points for a majority of the third quarter, before Ventura managed to gain a six point advantage, 31-25, to end the third quarter.  The Lady Vikes finally started to pull ahead in the fourth for the final, 40-33.
    “We are still learning to put a team away early so that their confidence doesn’t grow,” said Huber.  “In the second half you could tell they had more confidence by knocking down some tough shots.”
    Mathews and Rayhons led the team with 12 and 11 points respectively.  Spilman added six points, while Ames had four, Sydney Younge contributed three and Hallie Hall and Courtney Younge had two apiece.
    Leading rebounders included Mathews with nine and Rayhons and Ames each had five rebounds.  Spilman and Ames each grabbed four steals, while Hall and Mathews had three apiece.  Spilman led the team in assists with three.

Ventura 45, B-K 15
    The Lady Vikes grabbed 24 steals that helped them cruise to an easy 45-15 victory over Belmond-Klemme in