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The Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team opened its season with a 67-43 home loss to Alleghany on Tuesday of last week in Lexington.
The nondistrict game was close early on, with the Wildcats trailing 13-10 after the first quarter in the crowded gym of home fans and Alleghany fans who made the trip. Early in the second quarter, the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run and took their first lead when Henry Lambert hit an inside shot to make it 16-15. There were two lead changes before the Cougars ended the half on a 9-2 run, with Christopher Harden making a three-point play at the buzzer by scoring on a layup and then hitting a free throw. At halftime, Alleghany led 27-20.
Early in the third quarter, the Wildcats cut the lead to three when Sam Ballstaedt hit back-to-back 3-pointers, but Alleghany then took control, going on a 14-0 run and taking a 47-32 lead into the fourth quarter. Capitalizing on RC turnovers and using their speed to score off them, the Cougars extended their lead to 29 points in the fourth quarter, and reserves finished the game.
The Wildcats committed 20 turnovers, while Alleghany had eight.
After the game, RC head coach Rob Winfield said the first-game nerves certainly showed for a lot of his players, as all but four had never played in a varsity game before, with Lambert and Milo Mulitalo as the only returning starters. “You could see some jitters,” said Winfield. “It took a little bit of time to get the legs into it, I thought.”
“I thought some of our young guys early were deer in headlights, and I think they got out of it, but, man, just too many turnovers,” added Winfield.
Lambert and Ballstaedt led RC with 12 points each, with Ballstaedt sinking four 3-pointers. Ballstaedt, who played in Utah last year, was described by his coach as “a capable guy.”
Mulitalo led the Wildcats with 12 rebounds and added seven points. Hitting one 3-pointer apiece for the Wildcats were Zane Ramsey and Jackson White. Defensively, Lambert paced RC with four steals and grabbed seven rebounds, while Ballstaedt had two steals and three boards.
Of the new players, Winfield said he thought starting point guard Noah Hamm “did a pretty good job of handling some of the pressure, the first time being a point guard in a game.”
Leading Alleghany, which merged with Covington High School entering this school year, was Harden with 16 points. Anthony Webb added 14 points for the Cougars, sinking four of Alleghany’s seven 3-pointers, while Eli Entsminger contributed 12 points and Purcel Turner chipped in 10.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Salem last night and will continue nondistrict action at home against Fort Defiance today, Wednesday, before having a rematch at Alleghany on Friday. RC will start Valley District action at Broadway on Tuesday. All nights will begin with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
