HEGINS — One thing is evident every time the Williams Valley and Tri-Valley girls’ basketball teams meet.
It doesn’t matter if they’re playing for position in the division or district standings or if they’re just playing for bragging rights.
The Vikings and Dawgs don’t get along.
Tuesday night’s Schuylkill League Division II contest was no different.
Tri-Valley erased a double-digit, third-quarter deficit to pull away for a 55-51 win over Williams Valley in a physical, foul-filled fixture.
This game did mean something to both teams. It moved the Dawgs ahead of the Vikings in the District 11 Class A power rankings. Both are already in the district playoffs.
“Williams Valley is a big rivalry and this means something in the district standings, so we knew tonight was a big game,” Tri-Valley coach Clark Romberger said. “And it being senior night, there was a lot of emotion on our team already to try and win for the seniors.”
The two sides were knotted at 51-51 with just a few seconds remaining when Tri-Valley junior guard Reagan Newswanger drove to the basket and drew a foul. After a technical foul was called on Williams Valley, Newswanger sank all four free throws.
Newswanger finished with a game-high 21 points, but admitted keeping a cool head in the final seconds isn’t easy when the game is in your hands.
“It was tough,” she said. “I was getting a little worked up at the end, especially when I had to shoot those four foul shots. But we all had to try to stay calm and not throw the ball away like we were earlier in the game.”
Tri-Valley (13-8, 6-6 D-II) committed eight turnovers in the third quarter, three of which came in the first two minutes against Williams Valley’s full-court press.
“In the beginning, we were rushing more and rushing passes,” Newswanger said. “We weren’t looking for the right passes. We did better in the second half to cut to the middle.”
The Vikings (12-7, 6-6) outscored the Dawgs 15-8 in the frame, which featured a big 3-pointer by Kate Whelski and two penetration baskets by Rayanne Hawk.
Williams Valley led 41-29 with three minutes to play in the third before Newswanger hit back-to-back buckets and Kelly Romberger sank a free throw to lower the deficit to 41-34 heading into the fourth.
Vikings’ senior guard Hannah Nestor was injured before the end of the third quarter. She did return, but her absence appeared to hinder Williams Valley momentarily, especially in its press.
Newswanger had 11 of her points during the fourth, while Dawgs’ senior forward Madison Scheib scored six of her 10 points in the period.
Tri-Valley used a 15-4 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 46-45 lead with 3:30 remaining.
Katie Dietrich set up Taylor Header and Scheib for late buckets before Newswanger’s free throws eventually sealed the win.
“Give Tri-Valley credit,” Williams Valley coach Brian Unger said. “We were up ... they came back, they played hard, they made shots. We missed a couple.”
But the best thing Tri-Valley did in the fourth was keep Hawk from penetrating. The junior guard torched the Dawgs in the first three quarters by creating shots for herself.
“When we were down 12, we were talking as a coaching staff what we needed to do on the bench to get back in the game,” Romberger said. “Whether we needed to do some kind of half-court trap or pressure. We just decided we were too tired already, so we had to try to dig in on our half-court defense.
“We did a much better job of keeping (Hawk) out of the paint. She controlled the first half a little bit and much of the third quarter by getting into the lane.”
Hawk finished with 13 points. Whelski led the Vikings with 17.
Williams Valley entered Tuesday night’s game just a few points ahead of Tri-Valley in the District 11 Class A power rankings, which seed teams for the playoffs.
The Vikings beat the Dawgs in the WQLV Holiday Tournament at Upper Dauphin on Dec. 29 before dropping the first league contest between the two at Tower City on Jan. 7.
They might not be done yet with the district playoffs looming. The bad blood between the Vikings and Dawgs gets worse in the postseason.
“It’s a rivalry, you play your guts out,” Unger said. “Unfortunately, somebody’s going to lose and tonight it was us.”
Game Summary
WILLIAMS VALLEY (51) — Hawk 6 1-2 13, Han. Nestor 1 1-2 3, Daniel 1 0-0 2, Hal. Nestor 1 0-0 2, Whelski 5 6-7 17, Kreiser 3 0-0 6, Schadle 4 0-0 8, Pinchorski 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 8-11 51.
TRI-VALLEY (55) — Newswanger 7 6-9 21, Doyle 1 7-8 10, Header 1 3-6 5, Dietrich 0 0-0 0, Scheib 4 2-3 10, Romberger 3 3-4 9, Harner 0 0-0 0, B. Pacenta 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 21-30 55.
WV (12-7, 6-6) 10 16 15 10 — 51 TV (13-8, 6-6) 13 13 8 21 — 55
3-point FGs: Whelski, Newswanger, Doyle
JV score: No game