Published: November 19, 2008 11:34 am         

Tigerettes soar past Valley View

By DARIN ALLRED

Register Sports Editor

MUENSTER — The Sacred Heart Tigerettes used a 22-4 run during the second and third quarters to break open a close game and eventually defeat the Valley View Lady Eagles 54-29 in a non-district clash between Cooke County teams Tuesday in Muenster.

Sacred Heart (4-0) led 14-12 after the first quarter, but outscored Valley View 15-4 in the second quarter to take a 29-16 lead into halftime. The Tigerettes then scored the first seven points of the third period to push their lead to 36-16. The Lady Eagles (2-1) never got closer than 18 after that.

The first quarter was a battle as Sacred Heart used their defense and speed and Valley View used the height of sophomore post Taylor Dowd, who had a four-inch height advantage over every Tigerette. The Lady Eagles actually led 4-3 after a basket by Ariel Hernandez, but Sacred Heart answered with two field goals and a 3-pointer by Kristin LeBrasseur to take a 10-6 lead.

Valley View kept feeding the ball inside to Dowd, who scored eight points in the opening period. Kinzie Pierce added a pair of free throws as the Lady Eagles got within two (14-12) after the first period.

“The Lady Eagles caused us some problems early on with their discipline on offense,” Sacred Heart coach Jon LeBrasseur said. “I was pleased with how the girls are beginning to understand how to make adjustments during the flow of the game.”

Sacred Heart took control of the game early in the second quarter. LeBrasseur scored on a putback, Taylor Reiter added two free throws and Samantha Wimmer nailed a 3-pointer as the lead grew to 21-12. Courtney Pierce finally stopped the bleeding for the Lady Eagles with a bucket, but LeBrasseur answered right back with a layup on an assist by Sydney Hoedebeck.

Sherry Williams got another basket for Valley View, but Wimmer scored twice down the stretch as the Tigerettes took a 13-point lead into halftime.

Sacred Heart held Valley View scoreless for more than four minutes of the third period as they continued to increase their lead. Kalyssa Pollard had a field goal and a 3-pointer and Raynee Hogan added a basket as the cushion grew to 36-16. Courtney Pierce finally got the Eagles on the board with 3:45 remaining in the third. She also added another field goal in the final seconds, but the Tigerettes led 39-20.

Neither team scored in the first 3:39 of the fourth. Hogan hit a pair of free throws and LeBrasseur hit her third 3-pointer of the game as the Tigerette lead grew to 44-20. Hernandez, Dowd and Kinzie Pierce added baskets for Valley View and Sacred Heart got a free throw by Karli Anderle and a field goal from Hogan to keep the lead at 21.

Courtney Pierce hit Valley View’s only 3-pointer of the game with 1:42 remaining to cut the deficit to 18, but the Tigerettes closed the game strong with a 3-pointer by Rebekah Hesse and a conventional three-point play by Hoedebeck to win 54-29.

LeBrasseur led Sacred Heart with 19 points and 7 rebounds, Wimmer had 12 points and 11 steals, Hogan scored 8, Pollard had 5, Hoedebeck added 4, Hesse scored 3, Reiter had 2 and Anderle added 1.

For Valley View, Dowd scored 10, Courtney Pierce had 9, Hernandez and Kenzie Pierce each had 4 and Williams added 2.

“We have played four games and in all four games we were led in scoring by four different players,” LeBrasseur stated. “This team continues to improve daily as we know there is a long season ahead of us.”

Sacred Heart will play at the Fort Worth Bethesda tournament this weekend, while Valley View will play in the Saint Jo tournament beginning Thursday.