VALDOSTA — One quarter was all Lowndes’ girls needed to pull away from Valdosta.

Lowndes grabbed an 11-point lead in the first quarter, and that set the tone for a 20-point Vikette victory, 54-34, over their archrivals Friday night at Charles Cooper Gymnasium.

“It was a good win,” Lowndes head coach Shan Garner said. “We played pretty good basketball. We played our game, and did what we needed to do to win.”

The win makes Lowndes 17-2 this season, and 3-1 in Region 1-AAAAA. The Vikettes face key region contests next week against Colquitt County on Tuesday, Coffee Friday and Houston County on Saturday.

Lowndes started the game with a free throw and a Krystal Thomas basket, then Markeisha Close stole the ball and took it in for a layup. After a basket by Valdosta’s Jonnita George, Thomas nailed a three-pointer, Jennifer Pittman put back a missed shot, and Casey Parker drained a jumper from the corner, giving Lowndes a 12-2 lead just 5:48 into the game. The Vikettes led 14-3 after one quarter.

A minor run in the second quarter helped Valdosta trim Lowndes’ lead to eight, 19-11, but the Vikettes headed to the locker room ahead by 11, 22-11.

Lowndes then opened the second half with an 8-2 run, keyed by two Marley Williams scores inside, and that gave them a 30-13 lead. Valdosta tried to answer with five straight points, but Lowndes countered with five of their own, and at the end of the third period, Lowndes was on top by 18, 39-21.

In the fourth quarter, Lowndes extended the lead to as many as 25 points. Then, with the game in hand, Garner went deeper into his bench, and let some of his younger players get some varsity playing time.

“We wanted to give them a chance to play, because they’re the future,” Garner said. “You have to prepare for the future, as well as focusing on the present.”

Thomas was the only Vikette in double figures, scoring 13 points. Parker added eight points.

“I play a lot of girls, so you’re not going to see one or two girls putting up big numbers,” Garner said. “But we had a lot of girls play well for us. Krystal did. Casey hit some big shots for us.”

Valdosta is a team playing several sophomores and freshmen, and found itself going up against a Lowndes team with eight seniors, some of whom have been three-year starters. With less depth and less experience, it made it hard for the Lady Wildcats to hang with the Vikettes.

“I am not at all disappointed in our effort tonight,” Valdosta head coach Julie McCutcheon said. “I’m playing freshmen and sophomores against their seniors. They’re young and still learning. But they did play hard tonight, and I was pleased with that.”

Shanavier Walker led Valdosta with 12 points, the only VHS player in double figures.