BOYS

Tuesday night the Valley Falls Dragons found themselves on the wrong side of a close game falling to Pleasant Ridge 40-39.

On Friday night, though, the Dragons corrected their mistakes down the stretch and stormed back from a 10-point deficit to take down Oskaloosa 45-44 in Valley Falls for their first win of the season.

The Dragons started strong in the first quarter behind the play of sophomore Nathan Pickerell who scored 6 quick points to allow Valley Falls to jump out to an 8-2 lead three minutes in. But, Oskaloosa came right back with a run of their own, keyed by senior Braeden Pfau who scored 10 points in the quarter to give the Bears a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Bears extended the lead to 10 early in the second quarter, but a 5-0 Valley Falls run capped off by a Dawson Gatzemeyer bucket at the buzzer trimmed the deficit to 28-23 at halftime.

That 5-point Oskaloosa lead stayed the same through the third quarter and most of the fourth, but 5 quick points by Dragon sophomore Grayson Haag midway through the fourth gave Valley Falls their first lead since the first quarter.

The Dragons held that lead the remainder of the game, until Oskaloosa sophomore Jaxson Webb was fouled with 0.6 second left in the game and went to the line with a chance to tie the game with a pair of free throws.

Webb nailed the first, but missed the second after a Dragon timeout and time expired to give the Dragons the win.

Next up for Valley Falls (1-2, 1-1 NEKL) is a road game at Maur Hill-Mount Academy (2-1, 2-1) Tuesday, while Oskaloosa (1-2, 1-2 NEKL) hosts McLouth (0-3, 0-3).

Valley Falls: Dawson Gatzemeyer – 11, Nathan Pickerell – 9, Grayson Haag – 7, Chris Yates – 6, Tyler Lockhart – 5, Justin Meyers – 4, Hunter Aspinwall – 2, Tucker Sherretts – 1.

Oskaloosa: Jaxson Webb – 14, Braeden Pfau – 13, Hunter Reed – 4, Kyle Sharp – 4, Parker Wells – 3, Tristan Hopkins – 2, Marek Koch – 2, Gabe Robbins – 2.

GIRLS

The Valley Falls girls’ basketball team started fast and never looked back Friday night cruising past Oskaloosa at home 47-24.  

The Lady Dragons jumped out early with a quick 12-1 run in the first quarter to take control 16-2 after the first quarter. From there Valley Falls continued to extend the lead outscoring Oskaloosa by 2 points in the second quarter and 4 points in the third to put the game out of reach.

The Lady Dragons forced nine Oskaloosa turnovers in the win and finished the game 10 of 15 from the free throw line.

Valley Falls Junior Rachel Frakes set the tone early with 11 first quarter points and finished the contest leading all scorers with 17 points which all came in the first three quarters.

Valley Falls (2-1, 1-1 NEKL) now hits the road for a matchup with Maur Hill-Mount Academy (2-1, 2-1) Tuesday night, while Oskaloosa (0-3, 0-3) hosts McLouth (1-2, 1-2).

Valley Falls: Rachel Frakes – 17, Reagan Kirkwood – 8, Allison Kearney – 8, Mallory Jepson – 7, Drew DeLong – 5, Mallory Burns – 2.

Oskaloosa: Jenna Pfau – 10, Megan Miller – 6, Mattie Molder – 5, Shelby Wright – 2, Brittni Pryor – 1.