MENLO — Willapa Valley found its range to hit eight 3-pointers against South Bend on Wednesday to with the Jack Q. Pearson Holiday Classic girls championship game 43-39 at Tenoski Gym.
In a game that was a classic battle between the Pacific 2B League rivals, both the Vikings and the Indians settled into zone defensive attacks. South Bend’s main weapon was 5-foot-9 Karley Reidinger, who was able to find a few soft spots to score all nine of the Tribe’s points in the second quarter and finish with 22 points on the night.
Valley (4-6) answered Reidinger with the outside shooting of Hannah Cook and Brooke Friese. The Vikings moved the ball quickly to the two sophomores and the duo hit four 3-pointers each.
Reidinger banked in a 3-pointer with 3:20 left on the clock to tie the game at 37-37 and banked in a short jumper to put the Tribe up, 39-37, 15 seconds later, but South Bend went cold for the final three minutes.
After Valley’s Britney Patrick hit a free throw to cut the lead to one, the Vikings got the ball out to Friese on the right wing and she hit what would be the game-winning trey.
“South Bend’s zone is tough and it slows down the game,” Valley coach Colby Rogers said. “We just kept attacking and taking quality shots and tried to get stops on defense. We knew anytime you play South Bend it is going to be a tough game and this was a good learning experience for us.”
South Bend (4-6) missed the front end of two one-and-ones in the final three minutes in addition to the cold spell from the field.
“We had some good looks and we didn’t get a couple breaks down the stretch when we could have used a bucket,” South Bend coach Gary Wilson said. “I was really pleased with how hard we fought. We got down by six and fought right back. Free throws gave them the game with us missing the front end of the one-and-ones. We had plenty of opportunities to win.”
Valley led by four at halftime, but South Bend fought back with an 8-point run with Reidinger and Jessica Sanchez each hitting 3-pointers. However, just as the Tribe began to pull away, Cook hit a trey followed by another deep shot from Friese two minutes later to pull the Vikings back even.
The Vikings turned in a 7-point run early in the fourth capped by a lay in from Madison Huber to lead 37-34 before Reidinger opened the door for South Bend.
Reidinger finished with 14 rebounds to go with her 22 points, while Sanchez added seven points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Alise Rohr scored six points and pulled down 10 rebounds for South Bend.
Valley was led by 17 points from Friese, while Cook added 14 points and six steals. Huber added nine rebounds and four points.
Valley travels to Naselle on Jan. 4, while South Bend hosts North Beach on Jan. 5.
South Bend 8 9 15 8 — 39 Willapa Valley 11 10 8 14 — 43
South Bend (39) — Byington 2, Sanchez 7, Reidinger 22, Rohr 6, Conner 2, Ogilvie, Pearson, Maneman. FG — 16-47. FT — 2-7.
Willapa Valley (43) — Cook 14, Friese 17, Betrozoff, Huber 4, Patrick 4, Gray 4, Kat. Adkins, Pollard, Kam. Adkins, Anderson, Hodel. FG — 13-49. FT — 9-23.
