Tuesday night’s opening game of the Hidden Valley-Cave Spring girls/boys varsity doubleheader came with an element of delay.
When the girls starting five of both teams took to center court for the opening tipoff, one thing was missing- the ball.
After some searching, a ball was procured from the locker room and referee Winston Stevens gave it to Hidden Valley freshman Drew Freeland for a test bounce of approval. Freeland obviously liked the choice.
Hitting three 3-pointers and 13 of her team’s 17 points in the opening quarter, Freeland led the Lady Titans to a hard-fought 63-51 win over River Ridge rival Cave Spring. Freeland finished with a game-high 25 points.
“25? Yea, that’s a big accomplishment for me,” Freeland said with a big grin outside the Titan locker room after the game. “I had a good warmup and my teammates gave me the ball. I got more confident once I got open and my shots started going down.”
Hidden Valley led 17-10 after the first quarter and started the second frame on a 5-0 run after employing a full-court press that caused the Lady Knights problems. But, Cave Spring gathered itself and pulled to within 32-28 late in the half. Hidden Valley closed with a 7-0 run, including a half-court heave at the buzzer by Hailey Singleton that found nothing but net. The Titans went to the break up 39-28.
Although Cave Spring had a measure of success all night with drives to the basket, the Lady Knights got no closer than seven points the rest of the way. Hidden Valley led 54-41 after three quarters and led by as many as 15 in the final quarter before a 3-pointer by Cave Spring junior Hailey Sitze with 17 seconds left settled the final margin.
“That’s a very talented Hidden Valley team,” Cave Spring head coach Jessica Ficarro noted afterward. “We were able to take it to the hoop, but we made mistakes. These are teenagers. Our games with Hidden Valley should always be close. We expect it to be a tough game.”
Despite the loss, Ficarro saw plenty of positives.
“Heading to the tournament on Monday, we’re in a perfect position to make a move,” she added. “We haven’t peaked.”
Hidden Valley head coach Randy Bush took the win in stride. His Titans ( 18-3) had defeated these Knights 59-36 in mid-January.
“A win is a win, ” Bush said. “We knew they would make a run at us, but we didn’t panic. Cave Spring did a good job and clearly came to play. We’re still a very young team.”
In addition to Freeland’s 25, Yessenia Garay tallied 17 points for Hidden Valley, with Singleton netting 11.
Cassi Parulis led the Lady Knight attack with 14 points, while Taylor White added 11 points.
Bill Turner
