Photo by Larry Bale - South Bend's Katelyn Doyle guards Valley Viking Hannah Cook. The Vikes defeated the Lady Tribe 50-43 after building up a big lead and then holding on.
Alicia Smaciarz pumped in 28 points to lead Willapa Valley to a 50-43 win over South Bend Thursday night at Koplitz Field House in a Pacific League basketball game.
"This was good team win for us tonight," Willapa Valley HS Head Girls' Basketball Coach Matt Bannish told the Herald. "We brought a lot of energy and executed our offense extremely well, especially in the first half, scoring 31 points. Our press bothered them in the first half.
"In the second half, we didn't score as much, which prevented us from setting up our press," Bannish said. "We built a 20-point lead with four minutes in the third quarter, but South Bend came roaring back and cut the lead to five with 1:38 to go on the shooting of Karley Reidinger and Edith Razo. Give South Bend credit, because they made the game pretty scary for us in the end and give the Valley girls credit for holding them off.
"Alicia Smaciarz played extremely well, scoring 28 points," Bannish noted. "Hannah Cook was also solid offensively and defensively, scoring 10 points and dishing out five assists. Madison Huber grabbed eight rebounds and Sidney Pollard had five assists."
Willapa Valley led 31-17 at intermission before the Lady Indians mounted a comeback, at one point closing to within five points.
Traci Hoffman came up with 8 points and Smaciarz had 3 assists for the Vikings.
Willapa shot 35% on 18 of 52 from the floor, while South Bend was 15 of 34. Valley committed only 11 turnovers.
Valley 49,
NW Christian 29
Smaciarz slipped in 22 points to direct Willapa Valley to a 49-29 triumph over Northwest Christian Saturday at Lacey in a Pacific League matchup.
"We got off to a good start tonight scoring 18 points in the first quarter," Coach Bannish told the Herald. "The middle quarters were played pretty even and we finally pulled away in the fourth quarter. This was the first win at Northwest Christian in a long time for our girls' program.
"Alicia Smaciarz had a nice game (with) 22 points, seven rebounds, and five steals," Bannish reported. "We are also starting to get more players contributing to our success. Traci Hoffman added nine points and Hannah Cook scored six points and had six assists. Brooke Friese came off the bench and gave us some good minutes."
The Vikes were 13 of 20 at the charity stripe. Valley committed only 6 turnovers on the night.
Valley, 8-6 overall, visited Raymond Tuesday and hosts Life Christian Academy Friday at Tenoski Gym in Menlo.