WINTERSVILLE — The 3-point shot is a lethal weapon, and the Tuscarawas Valley girls’ basketball team certainly used it to its advantage against undefeated Indian Creek.

The Redskins were within striking distance of the Trojans in the third quarter, however, the visitors hit three shots from long distance to build an 18-point advantage on their way to a 50-29 victory knocking the hosts from the ranks of the unbeaten Thursday night on Coach D Court.

“Matt (Ward) has a great program,” Indian Creek (6-1) head coach Steve Eft said. “He has over 300 wins for a reason. They’re very good. We knew that when we scheduled them. That is why we scheduled them.

“We were right there for two-and-a-half quarters. Then, things snowballed. They hit some shots, and we didn’t. They got hot at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth.”

The girls in white trailed 26-21 in the third when the girls from Tuscarawas County got hut from beyond the arc. Aleah Wozniak connected for a pair of long range, and Sami Ward drained one from the corner as the girls in black tallied 17 of the last 19 points of the quarter to take a 41-23 lead into the fourth.

Wozniak hit another from distance as the victors outscored the home team, 9-6, in the fourth to account for the final score.

“They got hot in the third,” Eft said. “They hit some shots. We cooled off. We were able to get back into the game, and then we couldn’t hit a shot when we needed. We just stopped scoring.”

Kaydence Walker recorded a game-high 17 points to lead the way offensively for Indian Creek, while Riley Sadler delivered eight.

Wozniak collected a team-high 14 points to lead the way for the Trojans (4-3), junior Brennen Reichman, who has committed to play softball at Ohio State, contributed 12 and Maleah Dillon tallied eight.

“They played how they usually play,” Eft said. “They played a 1-2-2. They played a three-quarter court man. We were prepared for it, but it is not something we see every day. The are a good team. We want to play teams of their caliber. We will learn from this. We have to have good possessions on offense.

“We have to work on scoring. It is not easy. It’s a grind on offense and on defense. Playing Tusky Valley will help us come tournament time.”

The game was close early on before the girls in black reeled off their first spurt of the night to go up 15-5 with two minutes left in the first. The winners took a 17-9 advantage into the second.

The Trojans continued to play well in the second as they built a 24-13 advantage, however, the Red-and-Gold battled back and closed to within 24-19 heading into the locker room at halftime.

“It was a combination of us missing shots and them playing good defense,” Eft said. “We passed us some shots we should take. They did a good job on Kaydence. They shut down the lane. We missed shots, and we did not take shots we normally take.

“We will get better. We’re going to practice tomorrow. We’re going to watch the film, and we are going to get better. We will learn from this.”

Indian Creek is scheduled to play Buckeye 8 and Jefferson County rival Buckeye Local at noon Saturday in a varsity-only game.

Tusky Valley is slated to play Garaway Saturday afternoon on the road.

Tuscarawas Valley 50, Indian Creek 29

Tuscarawas Valley 17 7 17 9 – 50

Indian Creek 9 10 4 6 – 29

TUSCARAWAS VALLEY (4-3): Wozniak 5 1-2 14, Wallick 3 0-0 7, Bennicker 0 0-0 0, Ward 1 0-0 3, Withman 0 0-0 0, N. Woloch 0 0-0 0, Dillon 4 0-0 8, Stutz 0 0-0 0, Greene 0 0-0 0, K. Woloch 0 0-0 0, Miller 2 0-0 6, Reichman 5 2-2 12. TOTALS: 20 3-4 50.

INDIAN CREEK (6-1) Walker 6 4-6 17, Brandon 0 0-0 0, Taylor 1 0-0 2, Wiley 1 0-0 2, Sadler 3 2-2 8, Klinesmith 0 0-0 0, Cozart 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Crouch 0 0-0 0, Florczak 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11 6-8 29.

3-POINTERS: Tuscarawas Valley 7 (Wozniak 3, Miller 2, Wallick, Ward); Indian Creek 1 (Walker)