Lady Tigers continue winning ways over Lady Vikings in mid-season showdown

Imperial improves to 15-3 on the year with a 54-21 win at home

IMPERIAL, Calif., (KYMA, KECY) - The Imperial Lady Tigers not only knocked the Holtville Vikings out of the playoffs last season, but they have controlled the head-to-head in their favor for the past decade-and-a-half.

And Wednesday night was no different - starting off league play with a home win in impressive fashion.

The Vikings have struggled to keep pace with the Tigers in a match-up between two schools that have a long history in sports - Holtville only winning one game since at least 2004. That win coming in the Covid-shortened 2021 season.

But recently, the Vikings have been chasing the tail, close to a bite.

Last year marked the first competitive run for Holtville in a long time - taking one bittersweet game to the wire in a two-point loss. While they came up empty, they essentially ignitied a much fiercer rivalry that carried into their first meeting in 2023.

On Wednesday night, the star-studded game featured two of the most recent 1,000 point scorers in the Imperial Valley - Kamryn Walker (Holtville) and Sierra Morris (Imperial).

The hype was shown through and the crowd made it feel like a playoff-like atmosphere. In the end though, last season's state-runner up made a mid-season case for another deep run.

Imperial would run away with the win after jumping out to an early lead and leaving the first quarter up by nine. The veteran group of Tigers then holding on and cementing their 15th win of the year.

The Tigers now join Calipatria, Calexico and Palo Verde as the only Imperial Valley League teams to jump out to 1-0 in league play.

Meanwhile, Holtville drops to 10-9 with a home game against Brawley set for Thursday.

The Vikings will get another shot at the Tigers when these two meet again on their home floor on January 26th.