GRAHAMSVILLE– The Tri-Valley Bears girls basketball team have secured their spot in the Section IX Class B Championship game. The Bears will face the O’Neill Raiders tonight at 7pm at Mount Saint Mary College.

In a Sections pre-lims matchup the Bears and Bulldogs locked in for the third time this season. In each contest the Bears defeated the Bulldogs by more than 20 points. Tri-Valley turned on their full-court press early in the game. They put pressure on the visiting team, making it difficult for the ‘dogs to get past the half court line. Tri-Valley was only up by five points at the end of the first quarter with a lot of game left to play. 

The second quarter was scoreless well past the five-minute mark, until a steal by Jordan Dymond led to a two-point lay-up conversion on the offensive end. Although the Bears struggled to hit shots from behind the arc with several missed three-point attempts, they made up for it by hitting the short-range jumper and scoring on numerous fast break attempts. After holding the ‘dogs scoreless in the second quarter, TV looked to close out the game. 

 As the clock wound down to the half, the Tri-Valley Bears were up 17-2 as the Bulldogs struggled to find their offensive groove. After the half, Tri-Valley continued to pressure the Sullivan West ball-handlers on every possession. The Bulldogs’, McKala Chevalier, and Ella Herbert continued to take shots, and draw contact, driving the ball into the paint. The pair would score eight of their teams 11 points in the game ending the night with four apiece. The Bears led 28-10 with less than five minutes left in the final quarter as their lead began to widen. The Bulldogs put up a great effort and kept pushing forward but were unable to come back from such a large deficit. 

The Bears would win this game 40-11 and improve their record to 15-4.

 Tri-Valley was led in scoring by Jenna Carmody with 11 points, and teammate Avery Carrier contributed nine.