Remarkable rally lifts Turkey Valley girls at state

Turkey Valley rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit and ended the game on an 8-0 run to beat previously unbeaten Janesville 60-58 in the first round of the Class 1A girls basketball state tournament Monday afternoon.The Trojans improved to 22-3 and will play Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton in a semifinal game that will be played at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday while Janesville ended the season at 24-1.But for a good chunk of the final half, it looked like the Wildcats would advance as they used a 20-6 third quarter to take a 42-35 lead into the fourth quarter.When Janesville's Tori Hazard, who finished with 34 ponts, got loose inside for an easy basket, the Wildcats led 50-41 with five minutes remaining and Turkey Valley still found itself down 58-52 before Elli Winter's rebound basket with 1:17 left began the comeback. Kayla Gebel's bucket - on another offensive rebound - cut the deficit to 58-56 and with 58.5 seconds remaining, Morgan Kuennen hit 1 of 2 free throws to cut the deficit to 58-57.After Janesville missed a free throw, Shelby Reicks drove to the basket and gave Turkey Valley a 59-58 lead with 29 seconds left. Winter would come up with a steal before Reicks hit a free throw with 3.5 seconds left and then rebound her own miss to seal the deal.Reicks finished with 21 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to lead the Trojans while Kuennen added 13 points, Sadie Nymeyer contributed 12 and Winter finished with 10.— For more on this story and pictures from the state tournament, refer back to nhtrib.com and see the Friday Tribune