By STEPHEN MONAHAN
Sports Editor
VALLEY VIEW — A pair of Taylor’s provided the offense needed to lead the Valley View Lady Eagles to a win over district foe Callisburg Friday night.
Taylor Dowd scored a game-high 22 points, including 19 in the first half, while Taylor Felderhoff chipped in 11 as Valley View held off a second-half surge to defeat the Lady Cats 44-34 in District 10-2A play.
Both teams were back and forth in the first quarter as the Lady Eagles held a 13-11 advantage heading into the second.
Erika Goode put Callisburg on the board first with a layup to take the early 2-0 lead, but Dowd rattled off the next four points to give Valley View its first lead at 4-2 with 5:35 left in the first.
Dowd went on to score 11 of the team’s 13 points in the first quarter. Chelsie Cloer chipped in two free throws with nine seconds remaining to give Valley View the lead after one.
Valley View (15-14, 5-8 district) provided cushion to its lead in the second quarter, holding the Lady Cats to only four points — all via free throws — while scoring 15 of its own to hold a 28-15 lead at halftime.
Callisburg (12-15, 3-10 district) was held without a field goal for 10:09, stretching from the 1:18 mark of the first quarter all the way until 51 seconds into the third.
Tara Wescoat ended the scoring drought for Callisburg to cut the Lady Eagles’ lead to 30-17. Her field goal was part of the Lady Cats nine third-quarter points while Valley View was held to just four points.
None of those points came from Dowd, who was held to just three second-half points. Joezy Harrison and Mercedy Burnett scored the lone buckets for Valley View in the third as it held a 32-24 lead heading into the final frame.
Callisburg got within five points of the Lady Eagles (36-31) with 3:15 remaining in regulation after Emily Westbrook converted a pair of free throws.
However, Valley View went on an 8-3 run to end the game thanks to six consecutive free throws by Felderhoff, who was 7-of-9 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
Taylor Curtright did sink a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to cut the lead down to 43-34, but deficit was too much for the Lady Cats.
Also scoring for Valley View were Cloer who finished with 5 points and Burnett who added 3. Harrison scored 2 points and Elizabeth Anding had 1.
For Callisburg, Kalli Byrom finished with a team-high 13 points, Morgan Reed, Wescoat and Payton Bentley each scored 4, Curtright chipped in 3, while Goode, Amberly Colwell and Westbrook each finished with 2.
Kinzee Pierce, the lone senior for Valley View, did not suit out for the Lady Eagles final home game of the season.
