.jpg)
With a strong finish, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team earned its first win of the season, defeating Staunton 39-34 on Monday of last week in Lexington, before suffering a 51-37 home loss to Valley District rival Harrisonburg the following night.
In the nondistrict victory against Staunton, the first under new head coach Darrell Plogger, the Wildcats (1-7) avenged a 39-30 road loss in RC’s season opener on Dec. 4.
The Storm led by a small margin for nearly all of the first three quarters of the rematch, but the Wildcats took a 31-28 lead on a 3-pointer from Emma Clark about two minutes into the first quarter, and the Wildcats kept the lead for the rest of the game. RC led 37-31 before Staunton’s Samantha Swift hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 37-34 with just under two minutes left. The Storm missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds in attempts to tie the game, and Clark sealed the win by sinking two free throws with 0.8 seconds left.
Plogger said Clark’s last free throws were “Huge because we really struggled early from the free throw line.” For the night, the Wildcats shot just 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from the free throw line.
Earlier in the game, Staunton, which fell to 5-2 with the loss, led 11-7 after the first quarter and was up 21-17 before the Wildcats cut the lead to 28-26 by the end of the third quarter.
Clark led the Wildcats with 12 points, hitting two 3-pointers. “I challenged her before the game to get 10 [points], and she accepted it,” said Plogger.
RC’s Abby Bouchard added nine points on three treys and pulled down eight rebounds. Bella Dorey and Ruby Goodhart each chipped in six points, and Goodhart led the Wildcats with 17 rebounds and two blocks. Dorey was pivotal defensively, making six steals. “She plays so hard,” said Plogger of Dorey. “Her intensity is all the time. She’s all go all the time. I love having her as a point guard. She makes us go.”
Desirae Butler came off the bench for the Wildcats to make three steals and score two points. Plogger said Butler “was huge, came in and gave us some great minutes.”
Also adding two points each for RC were Sadie Moore and Natalie Samante-Asunción, who had two steals.
Swift paced the Storm with 14 points, hitting two 3-pointers, while Allison Floyd and Avian Field added five points each.
The Wildcats took better care of the ball than in recent games, committing 17 turnovers, while Staunton had 25 turnovers.
“We really took care of the basketball against some pretty good pressure and made some plays,” said Plogger.
RC shot 33.3 percent (15of-45) from the field and 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from threepoint range.
Pleased by the way his team stepped up to earn the victory, Plogger said, “These girls play hard all the time. We knew it was gonna take a little bit to get things going in the right direction, but I think we’re heading there.”
“It’s all about the girls,” added Plogger. “I’m just so happy for them that they can go ahead and celebrate and enjoy it. I’m happy for our coaches because they work their butts off. I’ve got a great staff that makes great suggestions. I couldn’t be happier for all of them.”
HHS 51, RC 37
Playing shorthanded, the Wildcats suffered a 51-37 home loss to district rival Harrisonburg on Tuesday of last week in Lexington. With the loss, RC fell to 0-3 in the district, while Harrisonburg improved to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the district.
The Wildcats had just seven active players, as they were missing three of their top players – Goodhart, Brooklyn Beverly and Parker Dameron – all out sick.
Without having to deal with Goodhart, RC’s 6-foot, 2-inch center, Harrisonburg took advantage inside early, jumping out to a 12-3 lead by the end of the quarter. The Blue Streaks extended the lead to 18-3 in the second quarter before Clark scored seven points for the Wildcats – on a drive, a 3-pointer, and a jump shot – to cut Harrisonburg’s lead to 22-10. Clark led all players with 16 points, sinking four 3-pointers, and grabbed five rebounds.
Facing a 25-14 halftime deficit, the Wildcats picked up their offense in the third quarter, with Clark sinking three 3-pointers to cut Harrisonburg’s lead to 33-26. Bouchard then made two free throws for the Wildcats to trim the Blue Streaks’ lead to 33-28, but the Wildcats would get no close. Harrisonburg’s Terrya Shifflett hit a 3-pointer to put her team up 36-28 at the end of the third quarter.
Shooting well and making free throws, the Blue Streaks extended their lead to 4631. Dorey made a couple of quick drives to the basket to trim into the lead a bit, but the Wildcats were down to four players in the final two minutes after Clark fouled out. Fouling out earlier in the game were Moore and Butler. Harrisonburg hit several free throws to end the game. Dorey also appeared to tweak her ankle on a drive late in the game, but she came back to the court after getting it checked. “She’s tough as nails,” said Plogger. “Right now, she’s our glue. She gets things together, gets us going. She’s just gritty.”
Impressed by his team’s effort without three of their leaders, Plogger said, “I couldn’t be more proud of our girls. We battled.”
“We talk about mental toughness all the time,” added Plogger. “Our girls showed me something tonight. We were willing to go to battle and fight till the end.”
Other than Clark, RC’s leaders were Dorey with eight points and three assists, Butler with six points on two 3-pointers and five rebounds, Bouchard with four points, seven boards and four steals; Moore with six rebounds, and Natalie Samante-Asunción with three points and three rebounds.
Shifflett led Harrisonburg with 14 points, Alyse Sheffley added 11 points, McKenna Dayton had 10 points, and Sierra Cain chipped in eight.
Giving the Blue Streaks credit, Plogger said, “They’re really good. They go to the bucket so hard.”
The Wildcats did a good job taking care of the ball, committing just eight turnovers, while Harrisonburg had 16 turnovers.
RC shot 31.1 percent (14of-45) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from threepoint range, and 30 percent (3-of-10) from the free throw line.
Today, Wednesday, the Wildcats will play host to rival Parry McCluer at 4 p.m. The varsity game will precede the varsity boys’ game between the two schools, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and following the junior varsity game, starting with the girls’ JV game at 1 p.m.
