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In a busy week of basketball, the Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team suffered a pair of losses to Spotswood and Alleghany before bouncing back with a 62-51 road win over Turner Ashby on Friday night.
The losses, a 73-39 road setback to Valley District leader Spotswood on Tuesday of last week and a 57-52 home defeat to Alleghany last Wednesday, were the Wildcats’ first backto- back losses since starting the season 0-7.
With the win over TA (4-16 overall, 0-7 district), the Wildcats (10-11, 4-3) completed a sweep of the season series with the Knights. When the teams met on Jan. 17 at RC, the Wildcats earned a 40-33 overtime win.
In the rematch, the Wildcats had a strong start, taking a 22-7 lead after the first quarter before leading 34-17 at halftime. TA cut into the lead in the second half, but RC fended off the Knights’ comeback in the fourth quarter.
Henry Lambert led the Wildcats with 17 points, sinking three 3-pointers, while Keaton Owsley added 16 points. Milo Mulitalo scored 11 points for RC, Matthew Burkhart had seven points, and Brandon Mays chipped in five.
Solomon Shifflett led TA with 11 points, Beau Baylor added nine points, and Nolan Bailey contributed eight.
The win helped the Wildcats stay in the hunt for a spot in the Region 3C tournament, going into last night’s regularseason finale at district rival Broadway (11-9, 5-1), another team in the hunt.
SHS 73 RC 39
The Wildcats suffered a 73-39 road loss to Spotswood on Tuesday of last week.
With the victory, the Trailblazers improved to 6-0 in the district, and Spotswood would end the week at 17-2 overall.
Spotswood, which had beaten RC 70-50 on Jan. 13 in Lexington, had little trouble in the rematch, applying their defensive press and trapping through the game. The Blazers raced to a 27-8 lead after the first quarter and had a 43-20 advantage at halftime. The Blazers outscored RC 21-10 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 64-30 and stayed comfortably ahead for the rest of the game.
Camryn Pacheco led Spotswood with a game-high 20 points, while Jackson Li and Tyler Sprague each added 13 points, and Jonathan Harding chipped in eight.
There were no double-digit scorers for the Wildcats, led by Mays with nine points. Lambert scored eight points, Owsley contributed five markers, and Andreas Poindexter chipped in four points.
AHS 57, RC 52
The Wildcats’ attempt to come back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter fell short in a 57-52 home loss to Alleghany last Wednesday in Lexington.
With the win, the Mountaineers, who ended the week at 10-11 overall, completed a sweep of the season series with the Wildcats. When the teams met on Dec. 19 at Alleghany, the Mountains won 70-62.
In the rematch, like Spotswood, Alleghany successfully applied its defensive press and its trap defense to contain the Wildcats’ offense.
The Wildcats trailed 31-25 at halftime and fell behind 46-35 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter before ending the period on a 5-0 run to cut Alleghany’s lead to 46-41. After Alleghany hit a pair of free throws, Owsley scored the next eight points, making two threepoint plays, to give RC a 50-48 lead with 5:49 left in the game.
After Alleghany hit a pair of free throws, Mays made an inside shot to give RC a 52-50 lead. The Mountaineers then took a 53-52 lead when Davien Moore made a 3-pointer with 1:56 left. After making a defensive stop, Alleghany went up by three when Eli Entsminger scored on an inside shot. Alleghany then forced a turnover that led to two free throws from Christopher Harden, who then stole the ball to seal the win.
Owsley led all players with 18 points, going 4-of-5 from the free throw line, while Matthew Burkhart added 12 points for the Wildcats. Poindexter scored eight points, and Mays chipped in six.
Harden paced the Mountaineers with 10 points, while Hunter DePriest and Halen Lowman added nine points each, and Entsminger chipped in seven.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Broadway last night and wait to see if they advance to the Region 3C tournament. To find out last night’s result and if the Wildcats advance, visit www. thenews-gazette.com, and see next week’s newspaper for the full story on this week’s action.
