The Valley Lumberjills scored the first 11 points while racing out to a 18-3 lead after the opening eight minutes of play enroute to a 48-35 victory over Clay-Battelle in Blacksville Jan. 16.

Brittany Guthrie scored nine points in that opening period, while Jackie Greathouse and Morgan Starkey evenly split a dozen.

The Cee-Bees closed the gap in the second period before Guthrie & Co. started putting on a clinic in the third period. Both teams played even in the fourth frame.

Guthrie led the charge with a game-high 23 points, including a trio of three pointers. She also was 6-8 from the free throw line. Greathouse followed with a dozen points, while hauling in a team-high six rebounds. Starkey and Tiffany Hayes each added six points, while Leah Morris added a free throw.

Morris and Hayes each hauled in five boards. Starkey added six steals, while Greathouse and Guthrie each added five steals.

“The girls are now starting to get their legs back after a long break because of the weather and it showed up tonight,” said Valley Head Coach Larry Weekly. “We not only had 18 steals as a team, we played very good match-up defense.”

The Lumberjills will look to extend their winning streak tonight in a make up game against Madonna at their house and will host the Paden City Wildcats Thursday.