Giselle Johnson is a freshman, playing in her third varsity game, but on Friday night, she played like a seasoned veteran, scoring a team-high 11 points in the Valley Central girls’ basketball team’s 44-30 win over the Minisink Valley Warriors at Valley Central High School in Montgomery.

“It’s a good opportunity to be playing older people,” Johnson said. “It’ll give me better experience in the future.”

Most of the time, the big shot comes at the buzzer, but other times it comes in early in the second quarter. After the Vikings built an 8-point lead after the first quarter, and after the Warriors scored three straight points to pull within six points, Johnson hit her second 3 of the game to restore the Vikings’ 9-point lead.

“It was a momentum stopper,” Valley Central coach Bill Michella said. “Now, they have to cover it and it does open up when everybody realizes who she is, and they’re starting to realize it already. It opens up the middle a little bit more because they focus on her right away.”

The Vikings took a 14-point lead at halftime, but while Valley Central’s offense went cold in the third quarter, the Warriors were unable to take advantage of it and never closed to less than 12 points.

“The difference in the game was our defense,” Michella said. “We always have that little issue in the third quarter, but we had it in the whole second half today.”

The Vikings had five points in the entire third quarter, all from Johnson.

After the Warriors had closed the Vikings’ lead to 32-18, she hit two straight baskets in the space of 24 seconds to restore the Vikings’ 16-point lead. She hit the back end of two free throws with 6.3 seconds left in the third quarter to send the Vikings into the third quarter with a 35-19 lead.

“She has a very smooth shot,” Michella said. “She’s very confident for a freshman and her confidence level is always on top. Even when she makes mistakes, she brushes it off. She’s a pure shooter. She’ll miss three or four in a row, and she won’t hesitate to take the fifth. That’s what you look for in a shooter.”

Johnson’s 11 points made her the only Viking to reach double digits. Madi Ringus led the Warriors with a game-high 14 points.

Friday night’s win was the Vikings’ first game since they defeated John S. Burke Catholic eight days earlier to win the annual Corinne Feller Memorial Tournament. They were scheduled to play their first Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II game at home against the Washingtonville Wizards.

“I think we’re in a good place,” Johnson said. “I think we’re getting better as a team. We’re really working on that.”