.jpg)
Wildcats Bounce Back From Pair Of Losses
Led by an effective defensive press and seven 3-pointers from Emma Clark, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team cruised to a 53-20 home win over new Valley District rival Rocktown on Friday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats (8-10 overall, 2-7 district), coming off district losses to Harrisonburg and Broadway earlier in the week, broke away from a game that was close early. RC was missing two of its leaders, Dez Butler and Bella Dorey, due to concussions suffered earlier in the week, but other Wildcats stepped up, including several members of the junior varsity team who moved up to help out the varsity team.
After the starters struggled to get going following a late start due to bus trouble for Rocktown, the Wildcats’ reserves, including some JV players, gave them a spark.
RC head coach Darrell Plogger said his starters “weren’t ready to play. I thought the JV girls gave a spark and played hard. They motivated our starters a little bit and got us going.”
From the JV team, Plogger was especially pleased with sophomore forward Emma McKnight, who had a steal and forced another turnover when the Wildcats were pressing. “She did a great job,” said Plogger.
With RC leading 7-6 at the start of the second quarter, Clark, who scored all 21 of her game-high points on 3-pointers, hit back-to-back triples to start an 8-0 run. “When she shoots the ball well, it opens up a lot of things for us, so I was glad to see her get hot,” said Plogger of Clark.
The Wildcats applied their defensive press, good passing and scoring in transition to outscore Raptors (0-10, 0-6) 19-4 in the second quarter. RC took a 26-10 lead into halftime, forcing 14 Rocktown turnovers in the first half.
RC carried the momentum into the third quarter, with Ruby Goodhart making a pair of baskets and Clark hitting three more 3-pointers to help them build a 44-14 lead by the end of the quarter.
RC stayed comfortably ahead for the rest of the game, and the fourth quarter went by quickly since the teams played with a running clock because the lead was 30 points or more.
Other than Clark, RC’s leaders were Goodhart with 14 points and seven rebounds, Lola Mulitalo with six points and seven boards, and Genesis McCoy with four points.
Astrid Arebalo Guifarro led the Raptors with nine points, Nayeli Amaya Olivencia added five points, and Kalaylah Banks chipped in three.
Rocktown committed 26 turnovers, while RC had 15. RC knocked down eight 3-pointers, while the Raptors hit two.
The win helped RC’s chances of advancing to the Region 3C tournament later this month.
HHS 47, RC 40
Struggling with turnovers and free throw shooting, the Wildcats came up short 47-40 at home against district rival Harrisonburg on Tuesday of last week in Lexington.
The Wildcats committed 20 turnovers against the Blue Streaks (8-6, 4-4), 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 Butler and Clark, the Wildcats cut the Blue Streaks’ lead to 20-15, but Harrisonburg went up by 10 points before 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 trim 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 a nine-point lead by making free throws to put the game away in the final minutes.
Commenting on what was tough about the Blue Streaks, Plogger said, “I think, defensively, the zone gave them a lot of problems. They scored mostly in transition.”
Butler and Clark led RC with 10 points each, with Butler dishing out three assists. Plogger praised Butler, who came back to the floor in the fourth quarter after tweaking her ankle late in the first half. Plogger said the Wildcats benefit from her ability and willingness to go to the bucket hard. When she does that, we’re better. I thought she did a great job of doing that. She toughed it out, played hard.”
Goodhart led the Wildcats with nine rebounds and 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. 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
BHS 54, RC 34
Despite a third-quarter comeback, the Wildcats suffered a 54-34 home loss to Valley District rival Broadway on Thursday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats trailed 21-12 at halftime before cutting the Gobblers’ lead to 35-31 by the end of the third quarter. However, Broadway (12-4, 4-4) outscored RC 19-3 in the fourth quarter to pull away.
It was closer than the previous meeting between the two teams, with the Gobblers winning the Dec. 17 game 67-33 at Broadway.
In the rematch, Wren Wheeler led Broadway with 17 points, making five 3-pointers, while Brittany Santiago Gonzalez scored 13 points. Ella Yoder added 10 points for the Gobblers, and Madyson Ennis chipped in eight.
Goodhart led the Wildcats with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Natalie Samante scored eight points, all in the third quarter, when she hit two 3-pointers. Clark and Mulitalo each chipped in six points for RC. The Wildcats were missing Butler and Dorey in this game due to their concussions.
The Gobblers made seven 3-pointers, while the Wildcats hit four.
Plogger said he was proud of his shorthanded team’s effort. “I thought our defense gave them fits when we made them play against our half-court defense,” he said.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Spotswood last night and will continue district action with their final home contest of the regular season on Friday against Turner Ashby, starting with JV action at 5:30 p.m. Before the varsity game, they’ll honor Clark, their lone senior. RC will have a rematch at Rocktown on Monday, with the varsity game only at 6 p.m., before road games against William Monroe on Tuesday and at East Rockingham on Thursday, Feb. 13, starting with JV action at 5:30 p.m. on both nights.
