Offense was hard to come by in Friday’s meeting with the Jaguars, as the Chieftains (5-8) trailed at halftime, 13-12. Mill Valley extended its lead to four by the end of the third quarter, but THS made it 21-19 in the opening minutes of the fourth. That’s as close as it got, though, as MVHS allowed just three more points and iced the game at the free throw line.

“These are two teams that know each other real well, and it looked like it,” coach Randy Kraft said. “Defensively, we were shutting down everything they wanted to run and they were shutting down everything we were trying to run. It comes down to making shots around the basket and making free throws, and they made more of those than we did.”

Mill Valley’s Whitney Hazlett was the only player to reach double figures. She scored 11 points. Katelyn Waldeier led THS with seven.

Kraft’s team seemingly shook off the loss when it started strong in Saturday’s non-league clash with Ottawa. The Chieftains trailed by two after one quarter, but battled back to take a 22-18 lead into the locker room at halftime. They stretched their advantage to seven early in the third quarter, but the Cyclones caught fire and went in front for good late in the final period.

“It was back and forth the whole game,” Kraft said. “They made plays at the end and we didn’t. We couldn’t convert anything, then they finally did and sat on the ball, so we had to foul.”

Emily Soetaert had her biggest offensive output of the season with 23 points, including a 9-of-13 effort from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Waldeier had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

THS will host Basehor-Linwood on Tuesday and Piper on Friday. Both games will start at 5:45 p.m.