VALLEY — The Valley girls basketball team lost 52-47 to Callaway on Friday night.

“We played a hard-fought game,” Valley girls head basketball coach George Grimes said. “We were down one, we had a little foul trouble, I’m proud of the effort. It was another chance to get better come Tuesday [final area regular season game at Brewbaker Tech].”

Going into the fourth quarter, the Rams were trailing 45-31. Valley outscored Callaway in the final frame 16-7.

There was a good-sized crowd at the game between the two schools that are relatively close to one another.

“I felt that the team showed that they’ve grown up a lot,” Grimes said. “Earlier in the season, [the big crowds] might have affected us a little bit, but tonight we came out and played together as a team. 

We gave ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter, that’s all we can ask for.”

Friday night’s game wraps up a busy week for Valley, ending it with a back-to-back.

“I’m proud of them,” Grimes said. “They played hard. They played more team-oriented. They got better [on Friday night.] Wins and losses are something that we look at a lot of times, but that cohesiveness, the team being able to play together, they got better at that [on Friday night.]”

Ana Magby finished with 16 points, Kwame Cofield scored 10 points, while Arteria Florence added 9 points. 

Jayla Lancaster, Jasmine Frazier, Emerald Floyd, Valencia Bennett and Aniya Hatchett also got on the board for the Rams in the game.

Valley seniors Star Core, La’Teazia Stringer and Floyd were recognized on Friday night for being at their last home regular season game in high school. 

Stringer and Core didn’t play in the matchup, as Core has missed a few games this week due to injury.

“I’m proud of them. All three of them have been with me for four years,” Grimes said. “They put in a lot of hard work, they’ve been dedicated, they’ve done everything that I’ve asked them to do. I hope this wasn’t their last home game. I hope we can play a couple more here, but they’ve done everything that I’ve asked.”

In order to have a chance to play another home game this season, Valley needs to win at Brewbaker Tech on Tuesday to force a coin flip on who gets to host the area tournament. 

Brewbaker Tech defeated Valley 59-33 on Jan. 15.

“I feel like we have a chance,” Grimes said. “We just have to keep the ballgame in distance. We have to be able to see the end and see a chance to get over what we call the mountain, and try to get a win.”