By Mike Zummo
The Valley Central girls’ basketball team had a long night in Central Valley.
The Vikings were absolutely smothered by the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders on Wednesday and headed into the holiday recess with a 58-16 loss in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association crossover game.
Madison Fileen led the Crusaders with a game-high 15 points and Sienna Feeley added 10.
“It was a very tough night,” Valley Central coach Bill Michella said. “They’re a very large team and we’re not. The girls never gave up. That’s the biggest thing. And in the second half, they started running the offense a little bit better. I was happy with a lot of things they did today.”
In the first half, the Vikings had trouble so much as getting to the basket, as they couldn’t penetrate inside, and didn’t score until Riley Schmidt hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 to go in the first quarter.
That ended the Crusaders’ 15-0 run to start the game.
“There was nowhere to go, and we weren’t getting our shots off,” Michella said. “We weren’t moving the ball as well in the first half as we did in the second half. Some of the shots went in and out. It was one of those nights.”
The Vikings had even more offensive trouble in the second quarter and were shut out as the Crusaders took a 32-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Michella approached his team with a simple message.
Don’t give up.
“Make sure you stay with it,” he said. “We never gave up because in the future it’s going to help us out a lot.”
The Vikings were unable to slow the Crusaders in the third quarter, but managed a little more offense, scoring five points on a 3-pointer by Schmidt, who finished with a team-high 12 points, and a basket by sophomore Mia Ponzo.
Schmidt hit two 3s in the fourth quarter and Olivia had a basket.
“They started rotating better, and the defense started to communicate better,” Michella said. “We got more stops in the second half than we did in the first half.”
It was a tough week for the Vikings, who opened the week on Dec. 20 with a 51-38 loss to the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks.
Schmidt scored 10 points for the Vikings, and Daysha Simmons scored a game-high 15 points for Newburgh. Isabella Suero added 10.
“I think they learned never to give up, and you can score any time if you execute,” Michella said. “If you’re disciplined and you can execute, you’re going to do just fine. This team is building on the future, and that’s why they never give up. They know they’re building on the future.”