.jpg)
Plagued by turnovers against one of the top teams in the state, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team suffered a 50-22 home loss to Valley District rival Spotswood on Monday night in Lexington.
Due to last week’s snow, ice and hazardous road conditions, it was the first game in nine days for the Wildcats (5-6 overall, 0-4 district), who were coming off a 40-24 road win over Parry McCluer on Jan. 4.
With Abby Bouchard hitting RC’s only 3-pointer of the game and scoring on a putback, the Wildcats took an early 7-4 lead in the first quarter, but Spotswood (7-3, 4-0) responded with a 6-0 run and led 13-9 at the end of the quarter.
Both teams played strong defense in the second quarter, with the Trailblazers taking a 19-12 lead into halftime.
In the first three minutes of the second half, the Wildcats struggled with Spotswood’s defensive press and committed four turnovers. For the game, RC committed 35 turnovers, while Spotswood had 20 turnovers. The Blazers outscored the Wildcats 22-2 in the third quarter to go up 41-14, with RC’s only points coming on free throws.
Spotswood stayed comfortably ahead in the fourth quarter, though the Wildcats stayed within 30 points for most of it to prevent a running clock.
Bouchard scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Ruby Goodhart had six points and six boards for the Wildcats. Lola Mulitalo led RC with 12 rebounds and had two blocks and four points, while Bella Dorey had a team-high five steals to go along with two points and two blocks. Emma Clark chipped in two points for RC.
Piper Lohr led Spotswood with 10 points, Alana Taylor added nine points, and Addy Weldon scored six points. Chipping in five points each for Spotswood were Sydney Slaydon and Riley Joyner.
The Wildcats will continue district action at Turner Ashby on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
For the full story and photos from this week’s action, please see our Jan. 22 newspaper.
