ALL PEAKS FOR VALLEY IN ROUND ONE

LEETONIA OH- Wednesday, February 16th saw the opening night of sectional semi final matchups for Divisions 2 through 4.

Division 4, in particular, had round 3 between The Valley Christian Lady Eagles and The Leetonia Lady Bears.

With The Lady Bears taking the first two regular season matchups, including a 43-32 win at Valley Christian this past Saturday, February 12th.

How you start is often super important for road teams, especially once the tournament starts. Head Coach Aaron Agresta and The Lady Eagles found that out on Wednesday night.

Going on an incredible 16-3 run to both start and end the first quarter, Valley Christian found themselves leading by a baker’s dozen after a quarter.

The offense got their points; however, it was the superb defense and rebounding of Valley that left Leetonia with just one converted field goal in the first eight minutes.

Leetonia drew even the next quarter 14-14, allowing Valley Christian to hold onto the 16 point lead at halftime.

The second half was dominated by two scorers on The Lady Eagles who put up a combined 34 points of offense! As juniors DiAndra Tensley (19) and Savannah Kitchen (15) lead the way on the night.

It was Tensley’s scoring, paired with fantastic defense and ball handling, the point guard was the sectional semi-final Player of The Game!

Scoring Superstar, Ella Gregorino still managed to get loose for 13 points. However, for Valley, it was Gregorino’s lowest mark versus The Lady Eagles this season.

#16 Valley Christian was able to do enough on the rest of #10 Leetonia’s offense to close out the road victory 54-39 over The Lady Bears.

The first quarter proves to be ever so important. Following the 16-3 first quarter by Valley, The Lady Eagles only outscored Leetonia by 2 points the following three quarters (38-36).

With the win, The Lady Bears season unfortunately meets its end. Including the tournament, Leetonia played 22 games this season, sporting an 11-11 record overall. With only one senior on the squad this season in Allison Francosky, The Lady Bears look to be back with a bite!

For Division 4 Region 13 (Mineral Ridge District) things have gotten a lot more clear. With #16 Valley Christian looking to answer another road test against #9 Lisbon, scheduled for Saturday, February 19th at 1 p.m.

*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell.

Postgame Interview With Aaron Agresta: