WILMINGTON- Rivendell has long been a thorn in the Twin Valley girls’ basketball team’s side. Every once in a while, the Raptors surprise the Wildcats when they least expect it, especially during big games. In 2008, Rivendell eliminated the Wildcats in overtime, 46-44, in the first round of the division III playdowns. Last year, they handily defeated them for a second time in Orford, NH by 10 points, 49-39. Once again, Rivendell was looking for a victory. Not this year.

Twin Valley was aggressive from the get-go. Co-captain Devon Spirka made two wide-open deep passes to Kylie-blu Crawford and scored four points. Rivendell adjusted their defense and they stopped Spirka and the Wildcats’ fast breaks. The Raptors’ Kye Ameden went one-on-one with Spirka and defended her well. The Wildcats held on to a 9-7 lead after the first quarter.

But as Rivendell adjusted to the Wildcats’ offense, so did Twin Valley. As all the attention was focused on Spirka, that gave other Twin Valley teammates the chance to step up. Sam Bernard and co-captain Alicia Laughney came up big on the boards, while Bryer-lyn Crawford scored four straight points and put the Wildcats up by 10 at halftime, 19-9.

In the third quarter, Bryer-lyn Crawford drained a critical three-pointer. Bernard scored a basket, drew the foul, and made the extra point. The 5-0 run put the Wildcats in command and they led the Raptors, 27-16.

The Wildcats began the fourth quarter with another offensive break. They went on a 6-0 run to make it 33-16, but then Rivendell began to catch up. The Raptors outscored Twin Valley 9-0 in the game’s closing minutes. Twin Valley coach Buddy Hayford called a timeout to stop Rivendell’s momentum and it worked. The Wildcats regained their composure, outrebounded and outhustled the Raptors in the final minutes, and held on to win the game, 38-25.

Despite the low score, Hayford said he was impressed with the big win over a tough opponent. “Defensively we were perfect,” said Hayford. “We did an incredible job. We gave up 25 points including the fewest points in a half this year (nine points) and our defending and rebounding won it for us.”

Bernard led the team with 11 points. Bryer-lyn Crawford scored nine points; Spirka scored eight points; Laughney scored three points; and Shannon Lozito scored two points. The team shot 82% from the free-throw line, 14 for 17.

On Friday, the Wildcats play at West Rutland. Tipoff is at 7:30 pm. For more Twin Valley girls’ basketball coverage visit www.deerfieldvalleysports.blogspot.com.