Spruce Mountain’s Alaina Kachnovich shoots a 3-pointer, which she made, against Medomak Valley on Thursday in Jay. Haley Jones/Sun Journal

JAY — Medomak Valley unseated the final undefeated Class B South girls basketball team with a 38-34 win over Spruce Mountain on Thursday.

Freshman Anna Reed made the game-deciding steal with 5.4 seconds remaining.

“I don’t really remember much,” Reed said. “It was definitely a good steal at the end. I was just in the mindset, and I really just didn’t think much of it and I just played how I usually do. That was definitely one of the biggest things I had to learn playing varsity, just play how I usually play.”

Panthers coach Lindsay Vinal said big late-game situations are good for underclassmen like Reed because it prepares them more for intense games. Vinal added that Reed felt like she was “in a slump,” during the game, but she made the big play after a chat with Vinal.

“I was like, ‘Just go out and fight. You’ve played 1000s of basketball games, we wouldn’t put you in this position if we didn’t think you could (do it).’ So I think that really helped motivate everyone, too,” Vinal said.

Junior Chloe Fox finished with a game-high 15 points for Medomak Valley (5-2). The 6-foot center also used her height to grab several rebounds.

“We work on it every day in practice by doing stuff — we do a lot of rebounding and boxing out drills,” Fox said. “My height is definitely an advantage — it’s my specialty, rebounds, it’s just fun. I like to get them up.”

Spruce Mountain’s Maddie Grimaldi and Avery Bessey missed what could have been game-winning shots late in the fourth quarter.

“It’s part of it, it’s a make-or-miss game,” Spruce Mountain coach Zach Keene said. “They made a couple more than than we did tonight, and those shots that Maddie and Avery took, I’d have Maddie and Avery take every single time and feel good about it.”

Grimaldi led the Phoenix with 12 points, while Lily Bellrose scored nine and Bessey finished with six.

Keene said that the major difference Thursday was that Medomak Valley was more physical most of the game, which allowed the Panthers to build a 13-point lead, 34-21, in the third quarter. Keene said that was unusual for Spruce Mountain, which set the tone in physicality and pace as it reeled of seven straight wins to open the season.

“Tonight, we just didn’t do that, and we fought all the way back, which is a great thing, but it makes it a little tougher knowing you put yourself in that position to start with,” Keene said. “But (Medomak’s) really good, as expected. They’ll be right there at the end. I wouldn’t be shocked to run into them again at some point.”

The Panthers maintained the lead for the entire fourth quarter, but it was down to only a point or two at times. Reed said the team knew the key to victory was going to be working together as a team. She added that “we just trusted in our teammates at that moment.”

Panthers, Phoenix take on challenges

Fox said the Panthers came into Thursday’s game seeking revenge after the Phoenix (7-1) beat the Panthers, 40-34, in last season’s B South semifinals.

Entering the season, Vinal said she “had high hopes that we would be one of the top teams,” and that she feels the win against Spruce Mountain — and even its 51-42 loss to Mt. Ararat on Monday — solidifies Medomak Valley as a top-three team in B South.

“We have a pretty tough schedule, so coming into Mt. Ararat, we knew that they were going to be tough,” Vinal said. “And there was times where we could have just laid down and let them just walk all over us, but I knew that because we played such hard competition, I think that just helps us be able to step up and play with the big team.

“So they have seen a lot of improvement already, and I hope that we can just keep climbing the ladder and not slide back down to those times where we look like we’ve never touched a basketball. As of this one, I think we’re really rising and should hopefully dominate.”

Keene said he’d rather pack Spruce Mountain’s schedule with games like Thursday’s against Medomak Valley. Even though the Phoenix lost, it was beneficial, and, he said, “a lot of teams at 34-21 in a game like that lay down, and we didn’t.”

“I take more from that than losing the game,” Keene said. “It’s a team that is going to compete and scratch and fight and do what they’ve got to do to put themselves in situations, but tonight, we just didn’t.”