Vikings season ends in quarters
HOLTVILLE — The Holtville High girls’ basketball season came to a halt after a costly fourth quarter against Chula Vista High here Friday night.
Leading the entire first three quarters of the game, the Holtville Vikings could not hold off the Chula Vista Spartans who rallied to win, 4237, in the quarterfinals of the CIF-San Diego Section Division III playoffs.
“It was a good, hardfought game; two teams playing with a lot of emotions,” said Holtville head coach Murray Anderson. “We had a strong start to the game. We just gotta play a full, four quarters.”
The Vikings end their season 22-6 overall and finished 3-3 in Desert League.
Holtville led the entire first three quarters, starting with an 8-0 run to take the lead from the tipoff. The Spartans charged back, trailing by no more than five points throughout the game until they took the lead 3029 in the fourth quarter. Holtville’s Angie Angulo tied with a free throw, 30-30, but the Spartans kept up the onslaught.
“That was that stretch where we didn’t get any points for three, four minutes. They caught up and kept the momentum going and got the win,” Anderson said.
Friday’s game was the first time the Vikings have made the quarterfinals in Division III since moving into the division three years ago. They previously had made the semis in both Division IV and V before being moved up.
The Vikings will go into the offseason knowing they have the potential to return to the quarterfinals next season and possibly further, as they’ll lose only one non-starting senior this year.
“We have only one senior, and we’re still trying to figure that out,” Anderson said. “We’re only gonna get better.”
The Spartans advance to the semifinals set to be played Tuesday.
Orian Anderson led the Vikings with 15 points Friday and led with eight rebounds. Angie Angulo led the team with six steals while Vikings’ Carolina Valdes led the team with six blocks.