By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

WILLOW WOOD — First, the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings lost point guard Jessie Morris for the season with a knee injury.

Now they’ve lost back-to-back Southern Ohio Conference games to Portsmouth Clay and Sciotoville East.

“I realize we are young and we are adjusting the best to our ability to losing Jessie Morris, but I am proud of how our kids never give up and keep trying to adjust to new positions,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Lisa Bryant.

“It’s frustrating to me to see our kids make the mistakes they are making. Hopefully this team will grow and improve.”

The Lady Vikings fell behind by 12 points at the half and couldn’t recover as they lost 61-49 to the Sciotoville East Lady Tartans.

“We gave up the 3-point shot early in the first quarter and got down,” said Bryant. “We tried every defense we had and we still did not execute any of them well enough tonight.”

Williams hit three triples and Dingus added another 3-pointer as East took a 16-7 first quarter lead.

Kayla Hayes had all six of the Lady Vikings’ points in the second quarter but Williams hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer to make it 27-15 at the break.

“We just dug ourselves a hole and we can never seem to dig our way out,” said Bryant.

Hayes had 14 points, six rebounds and four steals to lead the Lady Vikings (5-7, 4-4). Megan Johnson had nine points while Ada Humphrey had eight points and six rebounds.

On Monday, the Lady Vikings lost 51-33 to Portsmouth Clay as the offense struggled in the first half and couldn’t dig out of the hole in the second half.

The Lady Vikings trailed 15-8 at the end of the first quarter and trailed by just five points in the second quarter, but Clay used nine points by Curley to take a 29-14 lead at the half.

Kalli Hunt had 10 points while Hayes finished with nine points, three assists and two steals. Taylor Michael grabbed nine rebounds and Johnson seven.

Monday’s Game

Portsmouth Clay 15 14 15 7 = 51

Symmes Valley 8 6 10 9 = 33

PORTSMOUTH CLAY (7-4, 7-1): Bauer 1 0 2-2 4, Jenkins 1 0 0-0 2, Beegan 0 3 0-0 9, Whitley 2 0 0-0 4, Pelfrey 0 0 1-2 1, Curley 4 2 2-2 16, Redding 0 0 0-0 0, Hempill 5 0 3-4 13, Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Craft 1 0 0-1 2. Totals: 14 5 8-11 51. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (5-6, 4-3): Malenna Davis 1 1 0-0 5, Abby Hankins 0 0 0-0 0, Yenni Kim 0 0 0-0 0, Kayla Hayes 4 0 1-4 9, Kalli Hunt 5 0 0-0 10, Megan Johnson 3 0 0-2 6, Taylor Michael 0 0 0-0 0, Ada Humphrey 1 0 1-2 3. Totals: 15-45 2-8 33. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Hayes. Rebounds: 29 (Michael 9, Johnson 7, Hayes 4, Hunt 4). Assists: 5 (Hayes 3). Steals: 5 (Hayes 2). Turnovers: 15.

Wednesday’s Game

Sciotoville East 16 11 25 9 = 61

Symmes Valley 7 8 16 18 = 49

SCIOTOVILLE EAST (NA): Craft 1 0 0-0 2, Swords 3 0 2-3 8, Williams 1 6 1-1 21, Howard 0 0 0-0 0, Kelley 2 0 1-2 5, Dingess 1 1 0-1 5, Lang 5 0 1-2 11, Monroe 1 0 7-8 9. Totals: 14 7 12-19 61. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.

SYMMES VALLEY (5-7, 4-4): Malenna Davis 2 1 1-2 8, Hannah Maynard 1 0 0-0 2, Kayla Hayes 5 0 4-8 14, Kalli Hunt 3 0 1-2 7, Megan Johnson 2 0 5-8 9, Taylor Michael 0 0 1-2 1, Ada Humphrey 3 0 2-2 8. Totals: 17-51 14-24 49. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 27 (Humphrey 6, Hayes 6). Assists: 5. Steals: 15 (Hayes 4, Davis 3). Turnovers: 19.