4A/3A girls: Undefeated Central Valley edges Lewis and Clark for subregional title

If you play a team four times, odds are typically low that you’ll come away with four victories.

Don’t tell that to the Central Valley Bears, though, because that’s exactly what they did thanks to a 51-46 victory over the Lewis and Clark Tigers.

The win gives the Bears the 4A subregional championship.

CV overcame a dominating performance from LC’s Riley Lupfer, who finished with 29 points, including all 16 of her team’s points in the fourth quarter.

“We had to keep battling because they kept coming,” CV head coach Freddie Rehkow said as he watched his team cut down the nets. “Riley was shooting lights out and their bigs were boarding well. I don’t want to see them again unless it’s on a Saturday night for a championship.”

The Hull sisters again paced the Bears. Lexie Hull led CV with 16 points while sister Lacie finished with 11. Hailey Christopher had 14 points.

CV improved its record to 24-0.

“Finding new way to score and defend them is important,” Lexie Hull said.

While the end result was what the Bears wanted, the start of the game was not. A sloppy start forced Rehkow to call an early timeout.

“That was to settle me down more than anything,” Rehkow said. “There were a couple ticky-tack things that happened and I wasn’t real pleased with it.”

The Bears responded well and the two teams traded baskets during an entertaining first frame.

CV used a strong second quarter to build a comfortable lead.

CV entered the fourth quarter with a 37-31 lead and scored the first two baskets of the final frame. But then it was Lupfer’s turn to take control.

Lupfer scored from all corners of the court – in the lane, from the free-throw line and beyond the arc.

“She’s an amazing player defensively and offensively,” Lexie Hull said. “She’s definitely our biggest competition.”

After a missed free throw by CV’s Mady Simmelink, a Lupfer basket cut CV’s lead to 49-46.

Simmelink sank both free throws on the ensuing possession to seal the victory.

Simmelink – a freshman – finished with seven points and spent most of the night guarding Lupfer, the GSL’s leading scorer.

“Mady just works so hard,” Rehkow said. “She makes Riley work for those points. That’s all we can ask for.”

CV and LC move on to play again, as the game also served to determine seeding heading into the regional tournament.

The Bears are undefeated with an extremely young team. The roster has one senior and one junior, and freshman and sophomores take up the remaining roster spots.

CV starts two freshman and three sophomores, but Rehkow said he isn’t surprised such a young team is having this kind of success.

“They’re a very disciplined team and they work real hard,” he said. “They work hard everyday in practice and this is their reward.”

3A