By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

SCOTOVILLE — The D-fense is becoming the D-ifference for the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings.

The Lady Vikings used a stingy defense to notch their second straight Southern Ohio Conference win Thursday as they beat the Sciotoville East Lady Tartans 48-34.

“Our defense was the difference in this game,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Lisa Bryant. “My kids played their hearts out on both ends of the floor, but defensively we were pretty darn good.”

The Lady Vikings held East to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters.

“The defense did a super job all night especially for a young team. Our younger players seem to be making the right adjustments at the right time,” said Bryant.

Jessie Morris led the Lady Vikings with 17 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals. Malenna Davis added 14 points and Symmes Valley dominated the glass with 43 rebounds including 20 offensive boards.

Kalli Hunt led the Lady Vikings with 12 rebounds while Kayla Hayes had 9 rebounds to go with 8 points and 3 steals. Megan Johnson had 6 steals of the team’s 15 steals.

Symmes Valley got off to a slow offensive start and fell behind 9-5.

But Davis scored 7 points including a 3-pointer as the Lady Vikings rallied to take a 19-17 hafltime lead.

Morris came to life on offense in the third quarter as she scored 8 points and the Lady Vikings stretched the lead to 35-27.

In the fourth quarter, Symmes Valley held East to just one field goal and five free throws.

“This team is getting a little better each game they play in and they are gaining some confidence along the way,” said Bryant. “Both Morris and Davis shot pretty well tonight. Overall, I was very pleased and proud of my kids tonight. We hustled all night long.”

The Lady Vikings will host South Gallia at 1 p.m. Saturday in a varsity-only game.

Symmes Valley 5 14 16 13 = 48

Sciotoville East 9 8 10 7 = 34

SYMMES VALLEY (2-0, 2-0): Malenna Davis 3 1 5-10 14, Hannah Maynard 0 0 0-1 0, Jessie Morris 6 0 5-8 17, Kayla Hayes 3 0 2-4 8, Kalli Hunt 0 0 2-4 2, Megan Johnson 0 0 5-8 5, Taylor Michael 0 0 0-4 0, Ada Humphrey 1 0 0-2 2. Totals: 14-44 19-38 48. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 43 (Hunt 12, Hayes 9, Morris 7). Assists: 10 (Morris 7). Steals: 15 (Johnson 6, Morris 5, Hayes 3). Turnovers: 23.

SCIOTOVILLE EAST (1-1, 1-1): Craft 0 0 0-0 0, Swords 2 0 3-9 7, Williams 0 0 1-2 1, Howard 1 0 0-0 2, Newell 0 0 0-0 0, Norwood 2 0 0-0 4, Kelley 3 0 2-3 8, Dingess 3 0 0-0 6, Lang 1 0 4-4 6, Monroe 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 0 10-18 34. Fouls: 26. Fouled out: Dingess.