Rockbridge Girls Drop Pair

Wildcats Fall To Eagles, Cougars

The Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team suffered a pair of losses last week, falling 65-42 at home against Valley District rival East Rockingham last Monday before suffering a 51-20 road setback against Stuarts Draft on Thursday.

In the district opener against East Rockingham (5-0 overall, 1-0 district), the Wildcats (1-3, 0-1) saw a close game slip away at Maury River Middle School in Lexington.

The Wildcats, coming off a 64-62 double-overtime road win over Waynesboro the previous Friday, played well in the first quarter against ER, taking a 9-6 lead after a 3-pointer from Emma Clark and a pair of free throws from Abby Bouchard. However, the Eagles capitalized on four RC turnovers and went on an 8-0 run, taking a 16-13 lead at the end of the quarter.

Pleased by how his team started, RC head coach Darrell Plogger said, “Down three at the end of the first quarter, it felt like we were right in it. We handled the press.”

“As it went on, they just kind of wore on us,” Plogger continued. “Their depth wore on us. We basically played six girls, for the most part. We’ve got some sick, some banged up.”

Making three 3-pointers in the second quarter, ER built a double-digit lead and ended the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 34-20 advantage into halftime.

The Eagles carried the momentum into the second half, leading by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, but the Wildcats battled back. RC went on a 9-1 run, as Des Butler, Bouchard and Clark each hit a 3-pointer to cut ER’s lead to 48-36 by the end of the quarter. RC outscored ER 16-14 in the quarter.

Proud of his team for playing hard in the third quarter, Plogger said, “We played really well, moved the basketball. We were unselfish. I thought we had some advantages in transition that we didn’t take advantage of, but stuff that we can get better on.”

The Wildcats ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, turning the ball over three times early, as the Eagles started the quarter on a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 58-36. ER stayed comfortably ahead for the rest of the game.

Emma Clark and Abby Bouchard led the Wildcats with 11 points each, with Clark making three 3-pointers and Bouchard sinking one triple. Ruby Goodhart scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds and three steals, Natalie S amante a dded five points, Dorey chipped in four points and two steals, and Butler had three points and three assists. Bouchard led RC with 11 rebounds, while Izzy Knorr and Sydney Short led the Eagles with 10 points each, with Knorr making three 3-pointers. Maya Ramirez added nine points for ER, Reagan Sipe and Kennedy Voight each scored eight points, and Haley Lucas chipped in seven.

The Eagles knocked down seven 3-pointers, while RC made five.

RC struggled to take care of the ball, committing 24 turnovers.

The Wildcats showed improvement from the free throw line, shooting 69.2 percent (9-of-13), while the Eagles shot 63.2 percent (12of-19).

“As far as the effort goes, we’ve got a gritty bunch, and it’s gonna pay off,” said Plogger. “As long as we keep playing hard and playing together, we’re gonna have some success coming up.”

SD 51, RC 20

In nondistrict action on Thursday, the Wildcats suffered a 51-20 road loss to Stuarts Draft.

With the win, the Cougars improved to 6-0 and completed a sweep of the regular- season series with the Wildcats. When they met in RC’s season opener on Dec. 4 in Lexington, Draft won 5944.

Reviewing the rematch, Plogger said the Wildcats “got out of sorts early with a bunch of foul trouble.”

The Wildcats were missing their 6-foot-3-inch center, Goodhart, due to a calf injury.

Shorthanded, the Wildcats had an open tryout last week and got two new players, junior forward Lola Mulitalo and sophomore guard Anna Nye. Mulitalo, who had played basketball for the Wildcats as a freshman before taking last winter off to prepare for lacrosse, scored six points and led the Wildcats with seven rebounds, while Nye chipped in three points.

Other leaders for RC were Butler with two assists and six points on a pair of 3-pointers, Samante with three points, Bouchard with five rebounds and two points, and Clark with four boards.

Augusta Seibert led Draft with 14 points, sinking three 3-pointers, Ava Flippin scored 10 points, and Takota Moore chipped in eight.

RC committed 28 turnovers and shot just 22.2 percent (6of-27) from the field and 40 percent (4-of-10) from the free throw line, while Draft shot 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the free throw line.

The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Broadway last night and will have home games against Waynesboro tonight, Wednesday, and against Staunton on Friday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. on both nights. Tonight’s games are scheduled to take place at MRMS, but the bleachers are expected to be ready at the RC gym in time for Friday’s games to take place there. RC will then play at Staunton on Monday, beginning with the JV game at 6 p.m.