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Struggling with turnovers and free throw shooting, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team came up short 47-40 at home against Valley District rival Harrisonburg on Tuesday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats (7-9 overall, 1-6 district) committed 20 turnovers against the Blue Streaks (8-4, 4-2), who had won the previous meeting between the two teams on Jan. 3 at Harrisonburg, 54-45.
In the rematch, the Blue Streaks made 52.9 percent (9-of-17) of their free throws and committed 14 turnovers, while the Wildcats shot just 38.9 percent from the free throw line.
Harrisonburg jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first quarter, fueled by two 3-pointers from McKenna Dayton. At the end of the quarter, Harrisonburg led 14-8.
With a 3-pointer each from Dez Butler and Emma Clark, the Wildcats cut the Blue Streaks’ lead to 20-15, but Harrisonburg went up by 10 points before Lola Mulitalo hit a triple just before halftime to trim Harrisonburg’s lead to 25-18.
In the third quarter, Abby Bouchard and Clark each made a jump shot to cut the Blue Streaks’ lead to 25-22, but Harrisonburg responded with a pair of inside baskets, and the visitors took a 34-25 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats kept battling in the fourth quarter, as Butler made an inside shot and found Ruby Goodhart for an inside bucket to trip Harrisonburg’s lead to 34-32. The teams traded baskets before the Blue Streaks converted from the free throw line and Sierra Cain hit a shot inside to put Harrisonburg up 42-34. The Blue Streaks built up a nine-point lead by making free throws to put the game away in the final minutes.
Butler and Clark led RC with 10 points each, with Butler dishing out three assists. Goodhart led the Wildcats with nine rebounds and scored eight points, while Mulitalo had six points, six rebounds and two blocks. Bouchard chipped in four points while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out three assists. Bella Dorey led RC with three steals to go along with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Cain led Harrisonburg with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Dayton added 14 points, with each player hitting two 3-pointers. Alyse Sheffey had 11 points and three steals for the Blue Streaks.
Harrisonburg hit four 3-pointers, while RC made three.
The Wildcats will continue district action at home against Broadway on Thursday, starting with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m. They’ll also play at home on Friday against new district rival Rocktown, with the varsity game only at 6 p.m.
For the full story on this week’s action, with photos from Tuesday’s game, please see our Feb. 5 newspaper. Coverage of last week’s game, with photos from RC’s 60-26 home win over Roanoke Catholic on Friday, will be in this Wednesday’s newspaper.
