RC Girls Top Waynesboro Again

Wildcats Regain Home Court Advantage

With a complete team effort, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team earned a 50-43 home win over Waynesboro last Wednesday in Lexington in the first game in the RC gym this season since the bleachers were renovated and painted blue.

It was the first home win of the season for the Wildcats (2-4), who had played their previous home games at Maury River Middle School. When the teams met previously on Dec. 6 in Waynesboro, the Wildcats won 64-62 in double overtime.

In the rematch, the Wildcats were missing 6-foot-3-inch sophomore starting center Ruby Goodhart, out with an injured calf, but senior guard Emma Clark and junior guard Abby Bouchard came through with big performances. Clark led all players with 19 points, sinking five 3-pointers, while Bouchard scored 13 points, making 5-of-6 free throw attempts, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out eight assists while making four blocks and grabbing a steal.

RC head coach Darrell Plogger said Clark “hit some big shots,” and Bouchard is “so consistent. We know now what we’re getting out of her pretty much every night.”

The Wildcats, coming off a 67-33 road loss to Valley District rival Broadway the night before, jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game against Waynesboro (1-6). Clark and Bouchard both hit shots to help the Wildcats build their lead. The Lady Giants then picked up their offense and shut down the Wildcats for a few minutes, cutting the lead to 15-9 by the end of the first quarter.

Of his team’s strong first quarter, Plogger said, “I thought that, at the start of the game, we were so patient, and the ball moved so well and we got great looks.”

In the second quarter, a 3-pointer from Waynesboro’s Aaliyah Diggs cut RC’s lead to 16-14, but the Wildcats responded with a pair of baskets, and free throws from Bouchard put RC up 20-14. At halftime, after a 3-pointer from Clark, RC led 23-17.

Plogger said it helped to look at the Wildcats’ shot chart to make halftime adjustments. “First quarter, everything was coming pretty much in the paint or right at the paint,” he said. “The second quarter, when we struggled a little bit, we started getting fast shots, and they were quick threes, and we let them back in it.”

In the third quarter, the Wildcats built a 10-point lead, but the Lady Giants cut it to 36-30 at the end of the quarter.

Making free throws in the fourth quarter, Waynesboro cut the lead to 40-39, but the Wildcats got a basket from Lola Mulitalo and then a three-point play from Bouchard to go up 45-39 with 2:32 left. Bouchard helped put the game away by hitting a pair of free throws on her next trip to the line, and Clark sealed the win with another 3-pointer.

Other RC leaders were Bella Dorey with six points, four rebounds and four steals; Mulitalo with five points and 10 rebounds, Natalie Samante with five points and four boards, and Des Butler with four assists.

Plogger said Dorey’s leadership as a point guard helped the Wildcats move the ball well. “I thought Bella did a really good job taking charge, getting us in our offense, staying patient,” he said.

Diggs and Shyla Williams led Waynesboro with nine points each, while Shavea Torian added eight points, and Casadee Goodwin chipped in five.

The Wildcats did a good job taking care of the ball, committing 13 turnovers, while Waynesboro had 20.

RC hit six 3-pointers, shooting 46.2 percent (6of-13) from beyond the arc, while Waynesboro made two triples. From the field, the Wildcats shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51). The Wildcats shot 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the free throw line, while Waynesboro shot 65 percent (13-of-20).

“We kind of hit our numbers on everything that we wanted there,” said Plogger. “I thought we got great shots.”

Following the doubleovertime road win on Dec. 6, Plogger said the Wildcats knew the Lady Giants were going to challenge them. “We knew kind of what they were gonna do,” said Plogger. “They’re gonna win a lot of games. They’ve got some talent.”

Broadway 67, RC 33

Broadway rolled to a 67-33 win over the visiting Wildcats on Tuesday of last week.

With the victory, the Gobblers improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the district, while the Wildcats fell to 0-2 in the district.

Broadway jumped out to an 18-6 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 34-20 at halftime. The Gobblers then outscored the Wildcats 22-5 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach, leading 56-25 going into the fourth quarter.

Leading all players was Broadway’s Wren Wheeler with 22 points, while teammate April Gingerich scored 13 points, and Brittany Santiago Gonzales each added 11 points. Elizabeth Comer chipped in eight points for the Gobblers, while Ella Yoder scored seven.

Clark led the Wildcats with 13 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Mulitalo added 10 points and led RC with nine rebounds and four blocks. Bouchard and Samante each chipped in three points, with Bouchard adding five rebounds and three assists. Butler dished out three assists and had three steals for RC.

The Wildcats committed 20 turnovers and shot just 31.6 percent (12-of-38) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from the free throw line. Broadway hit 10 3-pointers, while RC made three triples.

RC was scheduled to play host to Staunton last Friday. Due to the early Christmas deadline, the story on that game will be in our Tuesday, Dec. 31 newspaper. This Friday, the Wildcats will play host to local rival Parry Mc-Cluer back at the RC gym, with the varsity game scheduled for 4 p.m. The day will start with the junior varsity girls’ game at 1 p.m., followed by the JV boys’ game at 2:30 p.m., with the varsity boys’ game scheduled for 5:30 p.m. For updates, visit www.thenews-gazette.com.

The Wildcats will start the new year with a Valley District matchup at Harrisonburg on Friday, Jan. 3, starting with JV action at 6 p.m. RC will then play at PM on Saturday, Jan. 4, with the same schedule as this Friday.

RC SENIOR guard Emma Clark shoots over a Waynesboro defender. Clark led the Wildcats with 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)

WILDCAT JUNIOR guard Natalie Samante reaches for the ball as teammate Abby Bouchard (22) watches. Samante scored five points and grabbed four rebounds. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)