Van Buren duo narrowly overcomes Viqueens

Viqueen defender Aubrey Boyce swats a pass attempt by Van Buren's Caitlyn Walker in the fourth quarter. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

SPENCER -- The Community Viqueens, who were unable to overcome a combined 55 points by Jaleta Grissom and Rachel Delon, lost a 64-63 basketball heartbreaker to District 9-A opponent Van Buren County Friday night in front of a packed gym in an extremely hostile environment, but learned a lot about themselves as a team.

The Bedford County squad trailed by as many as 12 points, but fought, scratched and clawed their way back to take the game into the final ticks of the clock.

Delon and Grissom teamed to score all of their team's points and the Eaglettes utilized a physical defense to parlay some easy opportunities on the other side of the ball to lead 20-12 after the first period.

Jessica Thompson went to work with eight points in the second frame and the Viqueen defense cut the Van Buren County offense in half to cut their deficit to 30-22 as they took the court for the third quarter.

"We dug ourselves a bit of a hole in the first half and we expended a lot of energy to get back into the game," Community coach Allison Layne said. "They came out and was able to establish the post game and got the game back to more than 10 points on us.

"I was very pleased with the way that they responded."

Aubrey Boyce hit for eight points and Marissa Jones pitched in with four but they were unable to contain Grissom and Delon who scored seven and eight points respectively as the third quarter ended with the home team holding a 46-38 advantage.

Small and Boyce led the Viqueen charge in the early going in the fourth quarter and Georgia Ralston provided the defensive spark off the bench with three steals and three key rebounds to pull their team to within two points with 16 seconds left to play.

Jones rebounded a missed shot and rocketed the ball to Thompson, who rained a 22-footer into the bottom of the net to put Community (4-3, 1-2 9-A) on top for the first time in the contest.

"I tried to get our team to get back and pack it in tight inside on defense but it was just too loud in there for the girls to hear me," Layne said. "We knew that they would get the ball in to Delon and she came through for them with a big basket despite some good defense on her by Marissa."

The Viqueens outscored the Eaglettes 25-18 in the final quarter.

Delon finished with 32 for Van Buren County and Grissom netted 23.

Thompson tickled the nets for 21 points, including an outstanding 15-of-19 from the free-throw line. Boyce added 16 in support.

"We waited too late to start playing but we finished with a lot of heart," Layne said. "I am proud of our girls. They never quit and they overcame a lot of adversity to put themselves in position to win the game.

"Any loss is a bad loss but we learned a lot about each other tonight."

Ralston was outstanding off of the bench with five steals, five rebounds and seven points in her most extended playing time of the young season.

The Viqueens host Santa Fe Monday night.