Following a couple days of no school or basketball, it was winter royalty at Valley Falls and in a couple highly contested games, the Dragons pulled off two wins against visiting Horton to complete a season sweep. 

GIRLS = Valley Falls 45, Horton 35

Behind a big second half from Korie Kirkwood, the Valley Falls girls slowly pulled away from Horton.  Kirkwood had made a bucket to push the lead to 40-32 with 90 seconds left before a technical foul by both a player and coach for Horton resulted in three made free throws and the ball for the Dragons who put the game away.

Kirkwood scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half while Lillian Darveaux added eight points including a pair of treys in the second quarter as the Dragons took a 21-18 halftime lead.  The Dragons led 5-0 a few minutes into the game before Horton scored nine straight points and led 9-5 before Lauren Brown hit a triple to pull Valley Falls within 9-8 at the end of the quarter. 

Maliyah Soto had 16 points to pace Horton but the Chargers made just 5 of 19 free throws. Carly Hutfles scored 9 points and Piper Chartier added 7 as Horton fell to 5- on the season and 4-7 in the NEKL.

Valley Falls is now 7-8 overall and 6-5 in league play. 

BOYS = Valley Falls 59, Horton 54

It was anything but the expected matchup of #3 ranked and undefeated Valley Falls versus a three-win Horton team. In fact, the Chargers led through about 95 percent of the contest including a 31-21 halftime advantage following a 9-0 run that started the second quarter and led to a 21-7 period as the Chargers knocked down four trifecta's.  

However, Valley Falls never went away and took their first lead since the first quarter with 1:26 remaining when Dylan Cervantez hit two free throws. He then hit three more in the final minute and the Dragons got a couple late breakaway transition buckets to rally for the win to stay unbeaten. 

On a cold night shooting from the perimeter, Avery Gatzemeyer connected on the first two Valley Falls treys in the third quarter and would post 12 points in the frame to bring the Dragons within 42-39. Gatz finished with a game high 20 points while Cervantez scored 8 of his 12 in the fourth quarter including knocking down 5 of 6 free throws in the last 90 seconds. Trenton Kraxner also scored 12 points and had more than 12 rebounds while Zac Evans finished with 8 points as the Dragons improved to 15-0 on the season in their third game decided by less than 16 points.  

Horton shot the ball extremely well and finished with only 11 turnovers, but 5 of those came in the fourth quarter. Trey Lockwood had 18 points and nearly 18 rebounds while underclassmen Luke McAfee and Gannon Becker each scored 12 points.  Despite playing with poise and confidence throughout the night, Horton falls to 3-12 overall and 2-9 in the NEKL.  

Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha Players to Bank On:

Korie Kirkwood and Avery Gatzemeyer of Valley Falls