Lady Vikings Score Big Win, Headed Into Regionals

The Hudson Valley girl’s basketball team showed their skills off last Saturday, defeating Clinton Community College 67-61. It was the final home game for the Lady Vikings, who took the win in the McDonough Sports Complex. “We are very excited to watch the girls play,” said one of the parents. “This might be the best group of girls that have played at HVCC.”

The Lady Vikings (15-9) earned a victory over the Clinton team (18-6), which was riding a five game winning streak coming into this game. The win also avenged the Lady Vikings’ defeat by Clinton earlier in the season.
“I thought it was a very well played game,” said Vikings head coach Kathleen Smith. “Clinton’s a very good, tough team. It was tough, but we were smarter down the stretch.” The Lady Vikings came out strong in the first few minutes of the game, using their defense to force turnovers and make them into points for themselves. Arianna Youngs was a major player in the first half, as she had a few steals in the beginning to lead the surge for the Lady Vikings. Youngs also led the team with all scores with 21 points. The Vikings got their biggest lead of the game early when they were ahead by 9 points. They kept that lead throughout the first half.

Although Clinton started off missing many shots, they started to catch up later in the first half. They were led by their star guard, Kiyanna Brooklyn, who shot very strong from 3-point range, bringing Clinton right back into the game. “Kiyanna is one of our star players,” Clinton head coach Donna Dixon said. “She is very good in pressure situations and is a strong key on this team.” It was a back and forth battle for both teams. Toward the end of the first half, Clinton started to get momentum, cutting the lead down little by little. Brooklyn hit a buzzer beater 3-pointer at the end of the first half to tie the game up at 30-30.

The second half of this game was a different start than the first for the Lady Vikings. Clinton continued their momentum right from the start, gaining their first and biggest lead of the whole game, by 6 points. The Lady Vikings were playing catch up for most of the second half, but eventually got their groove together and started to take over. There were many lead changes in the second half. The Lady Vikings biggest lead until the end of the game was 4 points. Erica Houle for the Lady Vikings was a huge part in the shooting game, hitting five 3-pointers and tallying up 20 points. Erica is considered Hudson Valley’s all-time best 3-point shooter, with a career total of 144 three-pointer field goals made.

“I thought our strength of the game was putting up a lot of shots without them getting a lot of rebounds,” said Coach Smith. “We struggled with that early in the year, and our rebounding was very good, especially toward the end of the game where it really counted.” Adding on to the Lady Vikings success was Kelly Kell, adding 12 assists and adding to her single season assists record of 164. The Lady Vikings stole the game at the last minute when they scored 6 points and out rebounded Clinton to secure their 67-61 victory.

The Lady Vikings continue their season, as they prepare to play in Region 3 Tournament on Friday, March 2 held at Cayuga Community College. The Lady Vikings will have a different mentality going into the playoffs.
“It’s going to be a different type of focus,” said Coach Smith. “It’s going to be about getting the girls ready and also making sure they have fun.” The Lady Vikings have been to the playoffs before and are looking to bring back another Regional Championship to Hudson Valley.