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Tuesday, Dec. 12 – After playing perhaps its best quarter of the season to end the first quarter in a 9-9 tie, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team saw a close game slip away, as Broadway pulled away to deal the Wildcats a 54-19 loss in their home opener on Tuesday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats (0-5) trailed 7-2 in the first quarter, but Abby Bouchard and Emma Clark each hit a 3-pointer, and Sadie Moore made a free throw to tie the game 9-9.
After that, the Gobblers (4-2) took over, starting the second quarter on an 8-0 run and extending the lead to 25-13 by halftime. Broadway capitalized on RC turnovers, and sharpshooting Wren Wheeler fueled the Gobblers’ offense, scoring 15 of her game-high 22 points in the first half. Wheeler made three of her four 3-pointers in the first half.
The Gobblers carried the momentum into the third quarter, continuing to score off RC turnovers and scoring 18 points before the Wildcats finally got back on the scoreboard with a free throw by Bella Dorey and a putback by Moore. At the end of the quarter, Broadway led 43-16.
With reserves playing much of the fourth quarter, the Gobblers kept extending their lead, and the Wildcats only scored on a 3-pointer from Clark.
For the game, the Wildcats committed 23 turnovers, while Broadway had just six.
Clark led RC with six points and three assists, while Dorey, Moore and Bouchard each added three points, and Goodhart and Parker Dameron chipped in two points apiece. Leading RC with five rebounds each were Moore, Dameron and Goodhart. Defensively, Bouchard led RC with three blocks, Dameron had two, and Goodhart had one.
Other than Wheeler, Broadway’s leading scorers were Mady Ennis with nine points and Natalee Strawderman, Maya Bacon and Keely Spencer with six points each.
Broadway hit five 3-pointers, while RC made three.
In their offensive struggles RC shot just 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from the field and 20 percent (2-of-10) from the free throw line.
The Wildcats will continue district action when they play at East Rockingham on Friday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
For the full story on this week’s action, with photos from Tuesday’s game, please see our Dec. 20 newspaper.
