Friday night, though, the Chieftains didn’t have to worry.

Playing against winless Mill Valley, Tonganoxie broke away for a 56-38 victory in Shawnee. The Chieftains improved to 2-6, while Mill Valley dropped to 0-8. The program is still without a win after going 0-21 last year.

“We’ve really been fighting to put four quarters together,” Chieftain coach Leslie Foster said. “We finally did that.”

The Chieftains were outscored in just one quarter when Mill Valley edged them 10-9 in the second.

The Jaguars’ closest margin in the second half was five early on, but the Chieftains built their lead to 33-19 after three quarters and maintained the margin for the win.

Tonganoxie’s pressing defense caused problems for Mill Valley, and the Chieftains capitalized on offense. Aimee Eisman scored a game-high 14 points, while Andrea Korb added 10. Alicia Stauch contributed nine and Keri Walker had eight.

Stauch had the most hard-fought points, scoring two baskets while being fouled. She converted the free throw on one of them.

“Alicia just plays hard,” Foster said. “She was playing defense aggressively and it carried over on offense.”

Tonganoxie played at Perry-Lecompton on Tuesday. The Chieftains next action will be in the Lawrence-Free State Tournament starting Monday.

Tonganoxie boys 69,

Mill Valley 53

Jacob Walker was the only Chieftain to score in the third quarter against Mill Valley on Friday, but other Chieftains chipped in late, and Tonganoxie stopped a two-game skid with a 69-53 win.

The Chieftains had dropped four of their last five games before improving to 4-5 overall and 4-4 in the Kaw Valley League.

Walker led the team in scoring with 17 points, while Jordan Glenn added 13. Glenn had 11 points in the second quarter. The Chieftains scored 22 in that quarter, helping them to a 37-24 halftime lead.

“We really started playing as a team,” Glenn said about the second quarter. “We were tired of getting beat and we really came out hard that quarter. When we play hard like that we can play.”

Tonganoxie plays either Lansing or Eudora in the second round of the Tonganoxie Invitational. With a win Tuesday, the Chieftains play Friday. With a loss, they play Thursday.