As the three-seed, Valley Central’s girls’ basketball team opened the Section 9, Class AA tournament at home against Kingston, the six-seed, Tuesday, Feb. 26.

And the Lady Vikings did so with a 15-5 record, deemed by Coach Randy Axtell as a successful regular season for his team.

“Anything worse than that would be disappointing,” said Axtell, before facing Kingston.

Valley Central then advanced to the semis by easily stopping the Tigers 54-20 behind Katie Crofoot’s team-leading 14 points.

“Our defense has been pretty consistent throughout the year,” said Axtell.

Valley Central traveled to Monroe-Woodbury Thursday to face the two-seed Crusaders. The defense remained strong, but the offense came up short in the 30-26 defeat that eliminated Valley Central. Chloe Beranger had 9 points against the Crusaders, and Shaina Cooney helped with 8 points in the semifinal loss.

“Offensively we have been inconsistent. Sometimes we are hitting our shots, and sometimes we are not,” said Axtell. “Everyone knows you have to hit shots to win.”

Valley Central finished the season 16-6.