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The Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team concluded its season with a 41-27 home loss to Valley District rival William Monroe on Tuesday of last week in Lexington.
The Wildcats (2-20 overall, 1-11 district), dropping their fifth consecutive game, struggled to produce offense against the Dragons (8-14, 3-9), who shot well early on and made six 3-pointers in the game.
Similar to their 43-28 loss to WM on Jan. 12 in Stanardsville, the Wildcats had a rough shooting night in the rematch, shooting just 21.4 percent (9-of-42) from the field. RC also struggled to take care of the ball, committing 20 turnovers, although the Wildcats’ defense forced 20 turnovers by the Dragons.
Commenting on the Wildcats’ offense, RC head coach Darrell Plogger said, “Same problem. We just had trouble scoring, too long droughts.”
RC took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter, with Emma Clark and Abby Bouchard each hitting jump shots, but WM’s Avery Shifflett made two 3-pointers to give the Dragons a 6-4 lead at the end of the quarter.
Shifflett continued to shoot well from beyond the arc in the second quarter, hitting three more triples. She led all players with 25 points, scoring 19 points and making all five of her 3-pointers in the first half. At halftime, WM led 23-10.
“Threes got us all year long,” said Plogger, completing his first season as the Wildcats’ head coach.
The Dragons outscored RC 12-2 in the third quarter to take a 35-12 lead into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats did hit all three of their 3-pointers – one each for Bouchard, Beverly and Des Butler in the fourth quarter and outscored WM 15-6 in the period, but the deficit was too large to overcome.
Bouchard led RC with seven points, Clark added six points, and Beverly chipped in five. Center Ruby Goodhart completed a strong freshman year by leading RC with eight rebounds and a block to go along with three steals, but she was held scoreless. Sadie Moore pulled down seven rebounds and scored four points, while Butler added three points and led RC with four steals. Bella Dorey added five rebounds, two points and two assists, and Parker Dameron grabbed three boards.
Other than Avery Shifflett, the Dragons’ leaders were Reagan Shifflett with seven points and Ava Robinson with three.
It was a rebuilding year for the Wildcats. RC had no seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen. Since the Wildcats had no seniors, they celebrated their junior class of Clark, Dameron and London Garrett before the game.
The Wildcats’ 2023-24 record matched their record last winter. RC’s wins were a 39-34 nondistrict home victory against Staunton on Dec. 18 and a 60-55 overtime road win against district rival Harrisonburg on Jan. 23.
Reviewing the progress of his young team this season and looking ahead to the future, Plogger said, I felt like we improved, but that trajectory’s got to keep going this summer. Everybody’s got to put a ball in their hand and get busy.”
Plogger said Goodhart, RC’s 6-foot-2-inch starting center, “had a great year,” generally leading the Wildcats in rebounding and providing much of the offense.
The RC coach was also pleased by the progress of Beverly, a sophomore guard, who stepped into the starting lineup late in the season. “She really improved over the last few games,” said Plogger. “Her energy’s something we’ve got to have. She provided it for us.”
Several of the Wildcats will be playing spring sports, while others will be involved in travel basketball over the coming months, but Plogger emphasized the need for more gym time for all to improve. “It’ll be March before we can get back in the gym, but as soon as we can get back in, we’ve got to get in and get better,” he said.
