By Thomas Grant Jr.
The Spring Valley girls basketball team will have a well-rested, rewarding Christmas break.
The Lady Vikings completed a five-game non-region stretch by winning the Green Division of the Christmas Classic at Lexington High School. They won both games over Lancaster (79-46) and Mauldin (82-43) by an average of 36 points.
Prior to the tournament, Spring Valley won three straight games. It defeated Irmo 54-36 and Richland Northeast 65-25, both on the road, and rallied for a 59-57 win over Lexington on Dec. 19.
The Lady Vikings trailed as many as 10 points to the Lady Wildcats. After holding Lexington scoreless over the final 2:30, Spring Valley got a 3-pointer with five seconds left by Lauren Crosland to take their first lead of the game.
Crosland scored 12 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter. Francis Marion signee Mariana Moody had 15 points. Following the win, Zie’l Ratchford was recognized for reaching 1,000 career points.
Dutch Fork ended the winning streak two nights later by a 76-55 score. It was the second loss to the second-ranked Lady Silver Foxes this season, but head coach Megan Assey believes such contests will prepare her team well for Region 5-5A play.
The Lady Vikings will open the new year Jan. 3 at home against defending Class 5A champion Sumter.
“We are conscientious in our non-region scheduling to make it as rigorous as possible heading into region play,” She said. “We feel facing the best teams in the state early on enables us to dissect our deficiencies and home in on the areas we need to see growth.
“Really proud of our team and how they responded after the Dutch Fork loss. They came focused and hungry to play to close out 2024.”
Westwood and Richland Northeast also took part in the Christmas Classic. Both split their two games, losing the openers and taking the consolation games.
The Lady Redhawks lost 63-47 to Fort Mill and edged Lakewood 41-40 in the Pink division. The Lady Cavaliers fell 50-38 to undefeated Purple Division champion Northside Christian and defeated Fox Creek 62-48 in the consolation game.
Photo by Spring Valley High School – Spring Valley’s Zie’l Ratchford is recognized after scoring 1,000 career points
