The Lady Vipers put their undefeated district record to the test, on the road at Lehman, and only hours after they learned they would be without the services of star senior post player Kallie Roush who went to the floor hard diving for a ball early in the game this past Tuesday against Westlake. Roush did not return in that game and Coach Jon Jones and his team learned Friday they will be without Roush for the remainder of the season. Regrouping after challenging news can be very difficult; however, the Vipers played a very aggressive swarming defense to hold Lehman to only a single basket in the first period, a single basket in the second, and a single basket in the third before Lehman scored 7 the fourth period. Ultimately, Vandegrift pulled out a 57-13 win on the road to move to 10-0 in district 25-6A play and 21-10 on the season. The Lady Vipers have two regular season games left.
It took a few minutes for the Vandegrift offense to get going in the game. After falling behind 2-0 and struggling to score in the first four minutes, the Vipers finished the first on a 13-0 run to take a 13-2 lead after one. The Lady Vipers added 15 in the second period and led 28-4 at halftime. Typically, Coach Jonesâ team comes out in the third and puts âthe peddleâ down. However, in this game, the offense was stuck in neutral in the third as the Lady Vipers only scored 6 in the third. However, due to stellar defense, the Lady Vipers led 34-6 going into the final period. In the fourth period, the offense finally clicked as the Lady Vipers scored 23 in the period. Eventually, the Lady Vipers prevailed by 44 points.
Madison Byrne led the Vipers with 14 points, all but one in the first half. Foul trouble kept her off the floor much of the second half. Autumn Howell (10 points) picked up much of the slack, with 2 big 3-pointers in the fourth period alone. Natalie Goddard (9 points) once again had a strong game on both ends of the floor. Ultimately all 10 players scored as Jane Stevens (7 points), Bee Gonzales (5 points), Jen Moore in her varsity debut (5 points), Kathryn Scott (2 points), Ella Drablos (2 points), Andy Haun (2 points) and Loren Goddard (1 point) also scored during the game.
Six players scored for Lehman, led by Karissa Cisneros with 4 points, and four players with 2 points each (Meghan Zuniga, Samirah Cunningham, Janessa Groan, and Sarah OâNeal). Crystal Montoya added 1 point.
The Lady Vipers are back in action Tuesday night at home in the Viper Pit versus Leander. The Lady Vipers close their regular season Friday at Vista Ridge in a game that may decide who wins district 25-6A. If the Vipers win on Tuesday against Leander, they will clinch at least a tie for the district title.
With the win on Friday, the Lady Vipers have now won 16 of their last 17 games and are currently ranked number 8 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association 6A poll.