After leading by as much as 19 points late in the first half, International Falls’ girls basketball team narrowly won at home Thursday against Virginia, 61-57.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Broncos, who improved to 7-3.
“I thought we played really well at points in the first half,” said Falls head coach Shawn Gilbert. “We got a pretty nice lead and everything, and then the second half I think we kind of let down a bit. We got back in the game, but it was nice we were able to hold on at the end.”
The Broncos’ Reva Renollet, who ended up with a game-high 22 points, helped break open a four-point lead early in the first half as she dashed down the court to score layups. Renollet tallied 16 points by halftime when the Falls led, 42-26.
“Virginia really struggled against that half-court trap in the first half, which leads to a lot of easy baskets for Reva,” Gilbert said.
The other Falls player scoring in double figures recorded a “triple-double.” Junior center Jenna Vergeldt ended up with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 14 blocks.
“A game like this really proves how much she means to our team as far as getting the points, the rebounds, the blocked shots,” Gilbert said.
The Blue Devils, who outscored the Broncos 31-19 in the second half, also had two players score in double figures. Samantha Silcox led Virginia with 18 points, followed by Morgan Deutsch-Woods with 14.
I. Falls 61, Virginia 57
Virginia 26 31 — 57
I. Falls 42 19 — 61
Virginia: Mekeala Moore 6, Samantha Silcox 18, Morgan Deutsch-Woods 14, Emily Sipola 5, Caari Toivari 7, Maria Stokes-Cerkvenik 7. 3-pointers: Deutsch-Woods 3, Sipola, Stokes-Cerkvenik. Free throws: 8-14. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Silcox
I. Falls: Reva Renollet 22, Sophie Fredrickson 5, Rachel Foss 9, Anah Schwartz 1, Lexi Owen 3, Sara Christianson 4, Hanna Heibel 4, Jenna Vergeldt 10, Sam Hams 3. 3-pointers: Owen. Free throws: 16-26. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Fredrickson.
