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Wildcats Keep Playoff Hopes Alive With Victory Over WM
The Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team earned its first Valley District win on Friday night, bouncing back from two losses earlier in the week by defeating William Monroe 37-23 at home in Lexington.
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 6-7 overall and 1-5 in the district.
“We had to have that one for trying to get into a regional [tournament] spot,” said RC head coach Darrell Plogger. The Wildcats, who won just two games last year, are hoping to get into the Region 3C tournament for the first time in six years.
Abby Bouchard, returning from illness, led the Wildcats with 12 points, seven steals and three blocks while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out two assists. Proud of Bouchard for playing hard while not feeling well, Plogger said, “She’s gutty. She just proved it again tonight.”
Emma Clark scored nine points on three 3-pointers, including a big one in the fourth quarter to help RC pull away.
Both teams struggled to score early on, with the Green Dragons, who fell to 4-7 overall and 0-4 in the district, taking a 4-0 lead in the first three minutes. The Wildcats’ first point came on a free throw from Bouchard just over five minutes into the game. She then stole the ball and made a layup to cut WM’s lead to 4-3, and teammate Lola Mulitalo hit a free throw to tie the game 4-4 in the final minute of the first quarter.
WM’s Ava Robinson made a three-point play early in the second quarter to give the visitors a 7-4 lead, but RC’s Des Butler then hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 7-7, starting a 9-0 run for the Wildcats that put them up 13-7. Clark hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first half to give RC a 16-9 lead.
The Wildcats used their defensive press to contain the Dragons early in the second half, but WM cut the lead to 20-17 before Clark hit another 3-pointer, and a free throw from Bouchard gave RC a 24-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Dragons cut the lead to three again early in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats responded with a 7-0 run on a layup by Bouchard, a 3-pointer from Clark and a side jump shot from Mulitalo on an assist from Ruby Goodhart to extend their lead to 31-21 with 4:20 left. WM cut RC’s lead to eight on an inside shot from Robinson, but Bouchard then hit two free throws, and the Wildcats had a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
Plogger said the Wildcats changed things up by applying the defensive press more regularly, and it worked. “Tonight’s really the first time we tried to up-tempo the game,” he said. “We thought they weren’t comfortable with pressure, and I thought we did a pretty good job with our presses of speeding them up.”
Other than Bouchard and Clark, RC’s leaders were Butler and Mulitalo with five points each, while Goodhart contributed four points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Mulitalo pulled down four boards and had two steals and two blocks, while Butler grabbed six steals.
Savannah Lam led WM with 10 points, Robinson scored nine points, and Reagan Shifflett chipped in four. Plogger credited Natalie Samante with doing a great job defensively on Shifflett, normally a scoring threat for WM. “I thought she did a tremendous job on her, setting the tone on the defensive side,” he said.
The Wildcats hit four 3-pointers, while the Dragons had none. RC committed 21 turnovers andWM also had 21.
Reviewing the game, Plogger said it was a great team win. “Everybody contributed,” he said.
SHS 50, RC 22
Plagued by turnovers against one of the top teams in the state, the Wildcats suffered a 50-22 home loss to Valley District rival Spotswood on Monday of last week in Lexington.
Due to the previous week’s snow, ice and hazardous road conditions, it was the first game in nine days for theWildcats.
With 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 (10-3 overall, 6-0 district)) 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. The Blazers outscored the Wildcats 22-2 in the third quarter to go up 4114, 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 Goodhart had six points and six boards for the Wildcats. Mulitalo led RC with 12 rebounds and had two blocks and four points. Bella Dorey had a team-high five steals to go along with two points and two blocks.
Piper Lohr led Spotswood with 10 points and 14 rebounds,Alana Taylor added nine points, and Addy Weldon scored six points.
Plogger said the Wildcats played well in the first half, but the second half was a different story. He noted that Spotswood is ranked No. 2 in the state. “I’m sure [the Spotswood players] got an attitude adjustment at halftime,” he said. “They came out and, defensively, took it to us. We kept turning it over. We’ve got to get the turnovers in line. We can’t get 35 and expect to beat anybody.”
TA77, RC 39
The Wildcats suffered a 77-39 road loss to Turner Ashby on Tuesday of last week in Bridgewater.
It was a close game early on, with the Knights (7-5, 3-1) leading 12-8 after the first quarter, but TA outscored RC 26-10 in the second frame to take a 38-18 halftime lead. The Knights then outscored the Wildcats 29-2 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Maisy Miller and Gianna Carderelli led TA with 14 points each, while Kyleigh Knight added 13 points, and Rowen Smith chipped in 10.
Goodhart led RC with nine points, six rebounds and two blocks, while Samante scored six points and Mulitalo had five points, four boards and two assists. Butler chipped in four points and two assists, Dorey and Clark each had three points, and Bouchard grabbed five rebounds to go along with two points.
The Wildcats committed 17 turnovers, while the Knights had three. TA hit 10 3-pointers to RC’s three.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Broadway last night and will travel to Staunton on Thursday, starting with the junior varsity game at 6 p.m. On Friday, in the opening game for the Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout, the Wildcats will play host to Roanoke Catholic. RC will return to district action at home against Harrisonburg on Tuesday, with the varsity game only at 6 p.m.
