Basketball Recap: Valentine Comes Up Short

If Valentine was riding high fresh off their 57-36 takedown of Perkins County last Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Valentine were beaten by the Johnson-Brock Eagles 65-15 on Friday. While losing is never fun, Valentine can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 175th, while Johnson-Brock is ranked 22nd).

Paige Sprenger was Valentine's leading scorer, having posted five points. Joni Cox took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.

Johnson-Brock's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Taryn Ottemann, who dropped a double-double with 22 points and 13 boards. What's more, Ottemann posted five assists, the most she's had since back in December of 2024. Chloe Vice was another key player, going 5-for-11 en route to 13 points along with seven assists and four steals.

Valentine's loss was their sixth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 8-17. As for Johnson-Brock, the win was the 25th in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 25-1.

Valentine does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Johnson-Brock, it'll be a Battle of the Birds when the Eagles challenge the Bluejays at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. Johnson-Brock is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54.8 points per game this season.