By Kaylee Karr
For the second consecutive year, the Mustangs found themselves facing Shelton in the Twin Valley Conference Championship game. For their first round of TVC Tournament play, the Mustangs faced the Blue Hill Bobcats for the second time in an intense rivalry matchup at home on February 2. During the first quarter, the Mustangs took an early 11-14 lead. Going into halftime, the Mustangs still lead by three with the score of 19-22. After halftime, the Mustangs faced a scare as Blue Hill took a 33-27 lead, hitting a 3 at the end of the third quarter. But despite Blue Hill’s efforts, which included 8 three pointers, the Mustangs were able to come back from the deficit and win 38-41. Leading the way for the Mustangs was senior MaKenna Karr with 14 points, followed closely by senior Sophie Schmidt and Libby Soucek, who each had 10 apiece. The Mustangs’ comeback came partly from being able to hit 11-15 from the free-throw line. “Blue Hill came out ready to compete and fight. We talked a lot before the matchup about how seeds and records mean nothing going into the tournament. Every team is ready to fight to win at this point of the season, and we have to show up and compete every second we are on the floor,” said Head Coach Kate Sinsel.
Going forward into their second TVC game, the Mustangs were back at home again to face Giltner/Harvard. The Mustangs took an early 9-7 lead after the first quarter.
During the second quarter, they increased their lead 23-14 going into halftime. The Mustangs kept fighting and eventually won 44-31 to advance to the TVC Championship game for the second consecutive year. Leading the way for the Mustangs was Soucek with 18 points, followed by Schmidt with 16 and MaKenna Karr with 12. Silver Lake was able to find success against Giltner/Harvard’s zone, hitting 9 shots from behind the arc, five of which came from the hands of Soucek. Soucek also tallied 9 rebounds. Schmidt and Kamille Karr were able to force some turnovers for Giltner/Harvard; Schmidt had 4 steals, and Kamille Karr had 3.
Going into the championship, the Mustangs were very hopeful for a win. Unfortunately, Shelton took an early 10-0 lead at the beginning of the first quarter. MaKenna Karr got the Mustangs back on track, finally hitting a bucket 5 minutes into the game, scoring all of the team’s 8 points in the first quarter. The Mustangs fought hard and tried their best to make a comeback throughout the game. They started the second half with a steal from Schmidt that she took coast to coast. Then, she hit back-to-back 3-point shots. Soucek added to the run, hitting a 3 to end the quarter down 8. After closing the deficit to only four points near the end of the fourth quarter, the Mustangs unfortunately couldn’t capture the lead and were forced to foul and put Shelton on the line. Silver Lake fell short by losing 50-42 to the Bulldogs, making them the 2026 TVC Runner-ups.