Spring Valley’s Devante Brooks goes in for a layup against Dutch Fork. Photo by Marcia Tidwell The Spring Valley Vikings spotted the Dutch Fork Silver Foxes a 12- 0 early first quarter lead before chipping their way back to a 79-63 victory in a Region 4- 4A contest Tuesday, January 31 at the Spring Valley gym.

“I would rather have a 12-0 run against me at the beginning than at the end,” Vikings’ coach Perry Dozier said. “There’s always hope after that. It is tough digging back against a team that is scrappy like that. They did not stop the whole time.”

The Vikings, 11- 9 overall and 5- 4 in the region, put four players in double figures. Devante Brooks had 18 points, Dominique Taylor had 14, Perry Dozier Jr. had 13, and Austin Beamus had 12.

Dozier said his team gave a much better effort than they had in the last several outings.

“It changed the whole game,” the coach said. “We chipped away at it. We went deep into the bench. I needed to get some guys in there who wanted to play defense. I don’t worry about offense.”

Dutch Fork coach Matt Brown, whose team fell to 5-12 overall and 3-7 in region play, said, “ We started settling for the three, and we stopped attacking the 2- 3 zone. They started pushing it out to the volleyball line, and we just kept passing it back and forth and then we had the turnovers. We did not shoot enough free throws.”

Mike Morgan led the Foxes with 16 points, and Griffin Morkland and Chad Geter followed with 10 points each. The Foxes are off this Friday and will entertain Richland Northeast Tuesday and Irmo Friday.

The Vikings host Ridge View Friday night, and if the green-and-gold entertain playoff dreams, the immediate goals must be realized.

“It is a must- win,” Coach Dozier says. “They are all must- wins from here out.”