The Valley Central girls’ basketball team allowed more points to John S. Burke Catholic in the first quarter than they did the rest of the game.

They allowed only four total points in the second half and defeated the Eagles 56-24 to win the 20th annual Corinne Feller Memorial Tournament on Saturday.

“We played as a team,” said Mackenzie Ross, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “It was all teamwork, pushing the ball up. It was all press breakers. It was an entire team effort.”

She also led the Vikings with 12 points. Overall, Ross made it an easy choice.

“Her decision making was on the spot. She was on the floor a lot battling for the ball,” Valley Central coach Randy Axtell said. “She is a tough girl. That goes a long way with (assistant) coach (Bill Michella) and I. That’s how we played and most of them play that way. She really took it to another level.”

Madeline Feller didn’t get the start on Saturday because she missed Friday’s practice, but she contributed eight points, shored up the defense and was named to the all-tournament team.

She also only had 2 turnovers the entire tournament from the point guard position.

“I thought when she came in the game in the second quarter, she turned around the flow of the game,” Axtell said. “She allows us to do a lot of things on our defensive presses.”

Shaina Cooney scored 10 points for the Vikings (2-0), who fell behind 14-12 after the first quarter, but then proceeded to ground the Eagles.

They took a 28-20 lead into halftime and then blew the game open with a 17-2 third quarter.

“We’re usually shaky in the first half, but in the second half we came out stronger,” Ross said. “We play as a team and we have that connection.”

Some heat from the coaches at halftime about the defense helped get things on track as well.

“They got an earful at halftime about the defense,” Axtell said. “That’s our thing. We have to make sure we’re making them take difficult shots. We weren’t doing that in the first half.”

Caileigh Costello led Burke (1-1) with 10 points. She and Brenna Costello were named to the all-tournament team.

The Marlboro Dukes defeated the Middletown Middie Bears, 56-52 in the consolation game.

Marlboro’s Elizabeth Lofaro and Middletown’s Aleena Skyers were named to the all-tournament team.

The Vikings have played two games in the eight days and are now amid a 10-day layoff until the Vikings face the Washingtonville Wizards on Dec. 10.

“We’re in good shape,” Axtell said. “We don’t play for 10 days so we’ve got time to work on some things. One of my frustrations is the offense. It should be a little more advanced. We have 10 days before Washingtonville, so we’ll be ready for that and go from there.”