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The Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team suffered a pair of losses at the Titan Basketball Invitational, which took place Dec. 21-22 at Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke.
In the semifinals, the Wildcats fell to tournament winner Hidden Valley 61-45 on Dec. 21. The following night, RC came up short 62-57 to Magna Vista in the third-place game.
Reviewing his team’s performance in the invitational, RC head coach Rob Winfield said, “We played well, just didn’t get wins … struggled shooting the ball all weekend and, like everybody this time of year, battled illness.”
Hidden Valley, which beat Lord Botetourt 62-49 in the finals on Dec. 22 to improve to 4-4, got off to a strong start in the semifinals against the Wildcats, taking a 16-11 lead after the first quarter and extending their advantage to 33-24 by halftime. The Titans extended their lead to double digits in the third quarter, taking a 47-37 lead into the fourth quarter and staying comfortably ahead for the rest of the game.
Henry Lambert led the Wildcats with 13 points, while Noah Hamm added 11 points, sinking three 3-pointers, and Milo Mulitalo chipped in 10 points.
HV’s Steele Torrence led all scorers with 20 points, making four 3-pointers.
MV 62, RC 57
In a game that was close the whole way, Magna Vista (3-6) finished strong to deal the Wildcats a 62-57 loss on Dec. 22. The setback dropped RC to 1-8.
The Wildcats led 11-9 after the first quarter and took a 30-29 lead into halftime, but MV pulled ahead 40-39 by the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Warriors outscored RC 22-18 to take the win.
Lambert led the Wildcats with 22 points, hitting three 3-pointers, while Brady Edwards and Luke Eversole each scored 10 points, and Zane Ramsey chipped in six.
Leading MV was Simeon Moore with 26 points. In the semifinals the previous night, the Warriors had lost to Lord Botetourt 72-65.
The Wildcats were scheduled to visit Fort Defiance last night and will return to Valley District action when they play host to Spotswood on Friday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Wildcats will make the short trip to Buena Vista to take on county rival Parry McCluer. The varsity boys’ game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., following the 1 p.m. junior varsity girls’ game, the 2:30 p.m. JV boys’ game and the 4 p.m. varsity girls’ game. The RC boys will return to district play on Tuesday at Turner Ashby, starting with JV action at 5:30 p.m.
