Last modified: Wednesday, December 5, 2007 10:46 AM PST Fruitland’s Bailey Rhinehart (front) drives down the baseline past a Vale defender during the second half of their non-league girls basketball game Tuesday in Fruitland. The Grizzlies won the game, 39-28. Grizzlies still undefeated By Ray Rodriguez Argus Observer Fruitland - When Vale coach Jason Johnson and Fruitland coach Beth Holt emerged from their respective locker rooms, they looked exasperated. Johnson’s Vale squad shot 9-of-37 from the field, committed 28 turnovers and also lost two players to injury in their 39-28 loss to Fruitland in non-league girls basketball action Tuesday in Fruitland. The loss drops the Vikings to 0-3 on the season with Ontario next on the docket Thursday. “We are facing some challenges right off the bat,” Johnson said. “But that’s how sports are. You have to find a way to overcome it. You know, I would rather struggle in November and December, than struggle in January and February. So hopefully we can get the wrinkles ironed out and get some good things going.” Holt, on the other hand, has a team that, with the win, is 6-0 on the season but has yet to put a solid game together. Fruitland hosts upstart Nampa Christian Thursday. The Grizzlies connected on 14-of-57 shots and committed 22 turnovers, but did just enough offensively to walk away with the win. “I don’t even know how we won tonight. We shot 15 percent in the first half and ended up the game shooting 24 percent,” Holt said. “I don’t now how you win games like that. We can’t shoot like that and expect to win. We have got to do a whole lot better.” Fruitland jumped out to an early 9-4 lead after one quarter of play and both teams had a power outage of sorts in the second quarter combining for three field goals. In the second quarter, Vale standout Katy Lutjens sustained an ankle injury and was forced from the game. To add insult to that injury, Vale’s Shelby Mooney left the contest with an apparent head injury. The Grizzlies took full advantage and opened up a 13-8 halftime lead with a 13-9 run in the third quarter and led 26-17 after 24 minutes of play. Kylee Nawahine was the driving force behind the lead with eight points in the third and the junior finished with a team-leading 10 points. Bridgette Teunissen once again had another solid all-around game with eight points, 16 rebounds and three steals. Michelle Meine was the only other Grizzly player to score more than one field goal and  notched four points. “I think we will work the kinks out,” Holt said. “I think these girls don’t really know how good they are yet as a team. I think we’re kind of getting by on our athleticism. Tonight, we just didn’t have any periods where I felt like we were in control. I will take the win and hopefully we can come out on Thursday and try to learn from it.” The Viking offense was led by Kayla Haueter, who scored 10 points, and Vanessa Lovell added six. After Haueter and Lovell, no other Vale player notched more than one field goal. Even with the sluggish start, Johnson is optimistic his team of eight seniors can turn things around down the stretch. “We might be 0-12 going into our league season, but we need to concentrate on our level of play more than our record,” the veteran Viking head coach said. “That’s a hard thing to do when you’re losing. The kids get discouraged. But, I saw some good things tonight so hopefully we can build on those and move in the right direction.” Marsing ..........................39 Payette ..........................34 Marsing used a 12-6 fourth quarter run and overcame a second half deficit to defeat Payette 39-34 in non-league girls basketball action Tuesday in Marsing. Payette had plenty of chances to increase the lead but the free throw shooting suffered a lapse and they couldn’t get back on track. While Payette’s offense sputtered at times, the defense had its share of struggles in patches throughout the game. “We just didn’t play well defensively the entire game,” Payette head coach John Kowatsch said. “We came out with a strong defensive game against Parma and we just didn’t play like that tonight. Had we played that way, it would have been a different story.” Marsing enjoyed the 17-15 halftime lead and Payette answered right back with a 13-10 run in the third quarter before Marsing woke up down the stretch to come out with the win. The Pirates were led by Tiffany Kaiser, who had 10 points and 13 rebounds, while teammate Shelbi King chipped in eight points. Payette (3-5 overall) next travels to Nampa Christian Saturday. New Plymouth ................53 Weiser ............................38 Foul troubles plagued the Weiser girls basketball team Tuesday and Sienna Edmunson and the New Plymouth Pilgrims took advantage. Edmunson scored 19 and Alisha Shipman added 13 in the Pilgrims’ 53-38 win in non-league girls basketball action in New Plymouth. Weiser held the early edge, using an 11-6 first quarter run and led 22-19 at the break. In the second half, the foul bug reared its ugly head and the Pilgrims went on a 17-7 third quarter run to take a 36-29 lead into the final stanza. The final 12 minutes proved to be all New Plymouth as they outscored the undermanned Weiser squad to the tune of a 17-9 spurt to close it out. Weiser was led by Ana Overgaard, who had 10 points, nine coming in the first half, and Anne Hafer with seven points. Hafer, Tiffany Nelson and Mary Lancaster hit the showers early, fouling out. “Nelson, Hafer, Lancaster had to sit huge portions of the third quarter and that’s when they got on us,” Weiser head coach Tim Erhard said. “Sienna drove to the hoop and we just fouled her. She shot 16 free throws and made 11.” Weiser (3-4) next travels to Melba Thursday. Burns ..............................43 Ontario ...........................34 Thursday in Burns, the Ontario girls basketball team struggled with its shooting touch, connecting on 14-of-51 shots in their 43-34 loss to Burns. The Tigers fell behind the 8-ball with a 12-4 deficit after one quarter and could never recover. The Hilanders extended the lead in the second and third quarter and held the 35-22 cushion entering the fourth quarter. Ontario was led by Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili, who scored 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting and Stephanie O’Connor added seven. “Burns was much farther along in their execution than we were,” Ontario coach Jon Buck said. Ontario (2-1) next travels to Vale Thursday.