GETTYSBURG — The James Valley Lady Vikings were down right out of the gate, but once they retook the lead, they didn’t give it back again, pulling away late for a 61-50 victory over the Lemmon Cowgirls in SoDak 16 action in Gettysburg Thursday.

The victory moves the Lady Vikings to 16-6 and earns them a place in the Class “B” state tournament beginning next week.
Lemmon finishes the season at 19-4.

The Cowgirls opened the game with a floater in the lane by Allie Kohn and a basket and foul shot by Jaedyn Byre in transition to jump out 5-0.

The Vikings responded with a 7-0 run capped by a Kaylie Robinson three to take the lead that they’d never give back.

The two teams battled throughout the first quarter with the teams combining to shoot nearly 75% from the field, but the Lady Vikings attacked the hoop and earned seven free throw attempts, giving JVC a 20-16 lead.

The second quarter was nowhere near as fast paced, with the Cowgirls not scoring until more than half the quarter had passed.

Lemmon big girl Kelly Lynch got her first bucket of the game with 20 seconds left to bring the score within one, but Alexa Goertz hit a three as time ran down on the first half to send James Valley to the locker room with a 28-24 lead.

The Cowgirls got the first points of the second half, but the Lady Vikings were patient with each possession, often getting a shot off with single digits left on the shot clock, and pulling down offensive rebounds to control the ball throughout the third quarter.

A three by Goertz with 3:48 left in the third gave JVC its first double-digit lead at 40-30. The Cowgirls never relented, however, and had the lead trimmed to six when Daril Frandsen nailed a three at the end of the third quarter to make it 46-37.

The Lady Vikings got a pair of threes from Goertz and Frandsen to open the final period, pushing the lead out to 15 at 52-37.

From that point, the patience on the offensive side allowed the Lady Vikings to stem off any attempt at a comeback by Lemmon, despite eight points in the quarter from freshman Jordyn Kohn.

JVC hit free throws at the end to come away with a 61-50 victory.

The Lady Vikings placed three players in double-figure scoring as juniors Robinson and Goertz each scored 18 to lead the way. Freshman Addison Bartholow scored 12 for JVC.

The Cowgirls were led by Jordyn Kohn and Jaedyn Byre with 12 points each.

This will be the James Valley girls’ fourth trip to the state tournament, the first since 2010.

The Lady Vikings will be the eighth seed for the state tournament and will open against top-seeded Arlington at noon MT on Thursday at the Monument in Rapid City.

James Valley Christian 20 28 46 61
Lemmon 16 24 37 50

James Valley Christian (16-6): Daril Frandsen 2 0-0 6, Rhayonna Hood 2 3-7 7, Kaylie Robinson 7 1-2 18, Addison Bartholow 5 1-1 12, Alexa Goertz 5 4-4 18. Totals: 21 9-14 61.

Lemmon (19-4): Jordyn Kohn 4 3-5 12, Allie Kohn 3 0-0 7, Jaedyn Byre 3 5-5 12, Toree Maher 2 1-2 5, Izzie O’Donnell 2 0-0 6, Kelly Lynch 3 2-4 8. Totals: 17 11-16 50.