The Valley Central girls’ basketball team had spent most of their practice time last week trying to find a way to defend Red Hook’s Emilie Kent.
They even had one of their assistant coaches simulating her in practice.

Kent still provided half of Red Hook’s offense, scoring a game-high 28 points in the Raiders’ 60-41 win over the Vikings in the consolation game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Tournament on Friday at Wallkill High School.

Overall, the tournament wasn’t kind to the Vikings, who lost the opener by about 20 points to Pine Bush nearly two weeks earlier.

“I thought we played very hard,” Valley Central coach Bill Michella said. “We had some good moments, and we had some moments where we got cold and missed a lot of layups. I think that hurt us tonight. (Emilie Kent) was just phenomenal for the other team.”

Kent provided nearly half of the Raiders’ offense scoring a game-high 28 points, as she was named to the all-tournament team. Liv Christensen added 14 points.

“We knew she couldn’t get the ball, but she got open, and we lost sight of her sometimes and she just made us pay for it,” Michella said.

The Vikings, meanwhile, didn’t have anyone in double figures, but Giselle Johnson scored a team-high nine points and was named to the all-tournament team.

“Giselle is just a player,” Michella said. “She takes control. She’s not afraid to shoot and she’s not afraid to take it to the basket. She’ll miss three or four shots, and then she’ll come back with a fifth shot. That’s what shooters do.”

After taking a five-point lead after the first quarter, the Raiders exploded in the second, building a 31-22 halftime lead.

The Vikings closed the Raiders’ lead to seven points on baskets by Bre Curtis-Wright and Kelly Schmidt, but the Raiders went on an 8-0 run to take a 14-point lead. Then, they outscored the Vikings, 16-7 in the fourth quarter to open up their 21-point win.

“We have to get over that hump,” Michella said. “If we do, we’ll succeed for the rest of the season. We just have to get over the third quarter.”

The Vikings will quickly head back into Orange County interscholastic Athletic Association play with a road game against the Warwick Wildcats before facing FDR on Saturday at Monroe-Woodbury.

“We’re hanging in there,” Michella said. “We’ve got some rough roads ahead of us, but we seem to improve day-to-day, and I look forward to coaching them and watching them improve the rest of the season.”