Aubrey Boyce makes a baseline save of the ball just before it would have been out of bounds against District 9-A opponent Van Buren County. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge]

SPENCER -- Ever had one of those days when everything you touch seems to fall apart or be wrong? It doesn't matter what you do or how hard you try, it just doesn't get any better, so you just get through it and live to fight another day.

The Community Viqueens experienced exactly that kind of debacle when they took the floor against Van Buren County on Tuesday and left with a 65-35 loss to a team they defeated rather handily earlier this season.

The Viqueens stayed within 12-10 of the Lady Eagles (9-13, 5-4 9-A) after one quarter, but the wheels came completely off the remainder of the way as they shot a miserable 25 percent from the floor in the game.

Jaleta Grissom blistered the Viqueens (10-5, 4-3) for 10 points to lead her team to a 30-20 halftime lead and the rout was on from that point.

"We came out and played well in the first period," Community coach Allison Layne said. "We went right at them offensively and I was basically happy with our defense.

"After that, I am just very disappointed that we continue to completely disregard the things that we learn in practice every day."

Van Buren County placed four scorers in double figures and drained seven 3-pointers in an impressive offensive display in front of the home crowd.

Grissom finished with a game-high 17, while Porsche McDonald and Cierston Simmons hit for 16 apiece and Rachel Delon added 11. The Lady Eagles connected on 16-of-20 free throws.

Community was led by Aubrey Boyce with 11 points.

The Viqueens got good news before the game when two-time all-district performer Jessica Thompson was cleared to return to the court, though she played sparingly in an effort to get her game legs back after a six-week absence.

"We have to find a way to get some more offense in the game," Layne said. "We are not shooting the ball with a lot of confidence right now and we need someone to step up and change that mindset.

"We will have to regroup this week in practice and develop some quick memory loss to get ready for Eagleville on Friday night.

"It is good to have Jessica back; we obviously miss her and Carly (Daffern) when they are not out there. But we have too much talent on this team to be held to 35 points in a ballgame at this stage of the season even without them."