Hardwood Heroes Sports
Lady Vikings Win Physical Battle Against Alexander
By: Nick Viland
Posted on:
ALBANY, Ohio- A battle you hear about in your history class, the Vikings versus the Spartans. A battle that came down to the wire where the Vinton County Lady Vikings came out with a victory Thursday over the Alexander Lady Spartans 40-33.
Alexander came out hot in this match up feeding off the cheers from a full student section. The Lady Spartans led 6-0 early in this game.
“We really worked hard to come out hard and fast, because we were down by 15 points in the first quarter in games we’ve lost,” Alexanders head coach Jeff Grinstead said. “Then, we’ve battled back to lose late, and that just wasn’t going to happen tonight.”
Soon the Lady Vikings stormed back and got their early game jitters out of the way as they took a 21-15 lead into halftime.
“We had to believe in our system and keep pushing the basketball,” Vinton County head coach Rod Bentley said. “We’re confident in our shooters and our abilities. We just want to stay patient and steady.”
The Lady Vikings continued their dominance in the second half by holding Alexander scoreless in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Alexander would not go down without a fight as they battled back within one in the fourth quarter as they cut the Lady Vikings lead to 27-26.
Vinton County was able to make key stops and score when needed to close out a Lady Vikings victory.
Josie Ousley came up big for Vinton County as she led the way with 13 points.
“She’s a special player and we’re so proud of her,” Bentley said.
Alexander will look to get back in the win column on Saturday as they face-off against South Charleston.
The Vinton County Lady Vikings will hope to ride their momentum on Monday when they play Cleveland John Hay.