Survive and advance. That's what Southern Valley did Thursday evening from the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Eagles are the #3 seed in class D1 and were set to face #6 seeded Elgin Public-Pope John, an opponent with a lot of talent. Naturally, that is the case once you get down to Lincoln you're going to see some great players.
Southern Valley, had a complete team effort and came away with the win 50-39. For the first time since 2001, the Eagles are heading to the semifinals. That was the first time Southern Valley made state. It is also just their second win at the state tournament ever.
In the opening quarter, EPPJ came out strong. Forcing turnovers, a lot of offensive rebounds, and taking control in the first few minutes. The Wolfpack led 14-10 going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Southern Valley began to knock down some big shots. They tied it up 19-19 with 4:36 remaining in the half. Then Adi Hunt, hit a three to go up 22-19. That was the score at the intermission.
In the second half, Southern Valley came out on fire. They went on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes. EPPJ had to call a timeout. After that timeout, EPPJ hit a couple of threes to get back within seven but the Eagles slammed the door on the comeback.
There were times it looked like the Wolfpack would come back, but Southern Valley just shut down the efforts each time.
For EPPJ, they were led by Ashlynne Charf with 13 points, Kate Furstenau and Keyera Eisenhauer each had seven. They end the season at 22-3.
Southern Valley had a nice attack with a number of players stepping up. Ann Bose, the standout senior, was held to two points but she faced a number of different things from the Wolfpack defense. Adi Hunt had 16 points to lead the Eagles, Vanesa Aguayo had 15 points including two big three-pointers.
Southern Valley has a tight turnaround, playing tomorrow (Friday) at 10:45 A.M. against #2 seed GACC at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. GACC ended Southern Valley's season last year in the first round at state.
We caught up with Ann Bose after the game and discussed the win.