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Playing hard against one of the top teams in the state, the Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team fell to Valley District rival Spotswood 77-44 at home on Tuesday night in Lexington.
It was a much closer game than the previous meeting between the two teams, on Jan. 13 at Spotswood, when the Trailblazers won 107-46.
With the loss in the rematch, the Wildcats (1-19 overall, 0-11 district) saw their losing streak stretch to 12 games, while Spotswood (17-3, 11-0) won its 12th consecutive game.
The shorthanded Wildcats, who were missing Sam Ballstaedt and Luke Eversole due to injuries, got off to a strong start, taking an 8-6 lead on a 3-pointer from Clay Irvine. RC went up 10-7 on an inside shot from Brayden Camden. However, the Blazers, who were missing star guard Cam Pacheco, then went on a 10-0 run to go up 17-10, forcing several turnovers with their defensive press. Spotswood led 20-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Drives to the basket by Bradi Ziegler and Christian Moore cut Spotswood’s lead to 20-16, but the Blazers answered back, with Tyler Sprague hitting three 3-pointers in the second quarter to help them take a 37-24 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats cut Spotswood’s lead to 39-30 on a 3-pointer from Ziegler, but they would get no closer, as Spotswood built up a 23-point lead at one point, taking a 56-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats kept battling, but Spotswood stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the way.
Sprague led all scorers with 27 points, sinking four 3-pointers, while Cam Langridge scored 23 points for Spotswood. Scoring six points each for the Blazers were Reese Fisher, Will Parlee and Cayden Price.
Gardner Clement led the Wildcats with 16 points, hitting a 3-pointer off the glass to end the third quarter. Bradi Ziegler scored nine points for RC, sinking two 3-pointers, and Clay Irvine and Noah Hamm each chipped in six, with Irvine hitting a triple and battling for a team-high nine rebounds.
The Blazers made seven 3-pointers, while the Wildcats hit four.
RC was plagued by turnovers, committing 30, while Spotswood had just five turnovers.
The Wildcats will continue district action on Friday at Turner Ashby, starting with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m.
For the full story on this week’s action, with photos from Tuesday’s game, please see our Feb. 12 newspaper.
