SOUTHERN VALLEY- The Southern Valley Eagles girls and boys basketball teams played host to the Arapahoe Warriors on Thursday (January 20th), and would take care of both matchups. The girls would win in dominating form 53-36 while the boys won a tight contest 51-46.
In the girls matchup, it would be all Southern Valley from the opening tip. A combined 14 total points from freshman Ann Bose and senior Krista Best in the first quarter would help them jump ahead to an early lead. That along with a dominating defensive effort helped the Eagles lock up a 32-9 halftime lead. After scoring seven points in the first quarter, Arapahoe would only score two total points in the second. The second half would actually be won by Arapahoe, outscoring Southern Valley 27-21 in the second half. The lead was too insurmountable for Arapahoe to actually close the gap though. The closest they would get is down by 15. Bose led the Eagles in scoring with 17 points while sophomore Berkley Warner led the charge for the Warriors with 10 points.
The boys matchup would go right down to the final buzzer. The first quarter started out high flying with 28 total points scored on offense. Southern Valley jumped out to a 17-11 first quarter lead behind nine points from sophomore Kamden Bose and six points from junior Matthew Henderson in the first period alone. Five second quarter points from freshman Trenton Roskop would help Arapahoe outscore Southern Valley 11-9 in the second quarter, making it a 26-22 halftime score. The second half would see more of the same, Southern Valley just doing enough to hold onto their lead. Southern Valley jumped out to a double digit lead early in the third, but five quick points from junior Ander Wasenius helped close the gap again by the fourth. At one point in the fourth, Arapahoe cut the lead to two, 48-46. However, after two missed opportunities to tie the game at the free throw line, sophomore Adyn Thooft knocked down two huge free throws to seal the deal for Southern Valley. Bose would end up leading the way for the Eagles with 18 points, while Henderson added 14. For Arapahoe, Wasenius led the charge with 11 points.
Both teams will compete in the RPAC (Republican Plain Activity Conference) tournament this weekend starting on January 22nd. The Southern Valley boys will play Bertrand while the girls will play Medicine Valley. Both Arapahoe girls and boys team will play Southwest.
