For the first two quarters Tuesday night, the Horton girls’ basketball team hung right with the No. 6-ranked team in 2A.

But, the Valley Falls girls turned it on in the second half, outscoring Horton 36-12 to push their win streak to nine with a 50-24 win in Horton.

The Dragons’ defense dominated all night, holding the Chargers to single-digits in each of the four quarters while forcing 15 total turnovers.

Early on, though, it was the offense of Valley Falls that got them off to a fast start. The Dragons put up 18 points in the first quarter with sophomore Reagan Kirkwood notching 10 first quarter points, while holding the Chargers to just seven points to lead by 11 after one.

Valley Falls pushed their lead to 12 at halftime, and forced five turnovers in the third quarter to push the advantage to 22 points after three and outscored Horton 11-7 in the fourth to put the game away.

The Dragons (16-3, 14-1 NEKL) remained tied with JCN on top of the Northeast Kansas League standings with the win, and will look to clinch at least a share of the league title with a win at home Friday against McLouth.

Horton dropped to 12-7 overall and 11-4 in league play, and will finish up the regular season Friday hosting Jackson Heights.

Valley Falls: Reagan Kirkwood – 16, Rachel Frakes – 14, Drew DeLong – 10, Allison Kearney – 6, Paige Wildeman – 2, Laikyn Hawk – 2.

Horton: Madison Blackburn – 7, Kaitlyn McAfee – 5, Maryanna Randall – 3, Serena Gaskell – 3, Abby Ross – 2, Kristin Becker – 2, Daspin Bruning – 2.

BOYS

Backed by a strong start, the Horton boys’ basketball team wrapped up the fourth seed and a home game in the opening round of the 3A Sabetha Sub-State next week with a 50-40 win over Valley Falls Tuesday night.

The Chargers jumped out to a quick 14-9 lead after the first quarter as all five starters scored in the opening frame. Horton pushed that lead to seven at halftime, forcing Valley Falls into six turnovers in the first 16 minutes.

After Horton pushed the lead to 10 midway through the third quarter the Dragons tried to get back into the game trimming the deficit down to six, but the Chargers were able to push their advantage back to nine heading into the fourth.

From there, the Chargers outscored Valley Falls 13-12 in the fourth to go on to win by 10.

Both teams will now finish up the regular season on their home floors Friday, as Horton (11-8, 11-4 NEKL) hosts Jackson Heights while Valley Falls (5-14, 4-11) hosts McLouth.

Horton: Cameron Smith – 11, Isaiah Cortes – 10, Nathan Isaacs – 9, Craig Wahwahsuck – 9, Jesse Rice – 6, Cole Bottom – 5.

Valley Falls: Chris Yates – 17, Dawson Gatzemeyer – 12, Justin Meyers – 6, Tyler Lockhart – 3, Dalton Barnett – 2.