Lady Mustangs cruise to win over Lady Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Defense led to offense for the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs Thursday night, as four players scored in double figures, leading the Lady Mustangs to a 66-33 conference win over the Fairfield Lady Lions.
The win at Fairfield's Grandle Gymnasium was set with a tone of defense equaling offense for LC in the first quarter, as the Lady Mustangs built a 12-0 lead with 3:27 left in the first quarter and from there never looked back.
In the 12-0 run by the visiting Lady Mustangs, Ali Little started the scoring with a two-point basket, followed by a 3-pointer by Morgan Fittro. From there, Hannah Binkley scored five consecutive points, including a 3-pointer with 4:56 left in the first for a 10-0 advantage. Little then scored a put-back basket with 3:27 left in the quarter.
LC (4-2, 8-4) had four players score at least 12 points in their Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory, with Madysyn Creighton and Hannah Binkley leading the way with 13 points each.
Fittro and Little each scored 12 points for the Lady Mustangs.
"This was a good team win," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We did a lot of good in the first quarter and played better than we did last Saturday.
"When we play well in the first quarter, that is what can happen. I'm happy with how the ladies played ... again, we played well as a team."
Fairfield put their first points on the board with a jumper from senior Heather Cox at the 3:00 mark. Cox led all scorers with 17 points.
In the final three minutes of the quarter, including the points from Cox, each team scored six points with Lydia Sowders scoring four points in the quarter for the Lady Lions and Little, McKayla Binkley and Creighton each adding two points in that span.
"Our fast break play up the floor looked really good," Lewis said. "Having four kids in double digits is what I want to see. We want balanced scoring."
With an 18-6 advantage headed into the second frame, LC added six consecutive points to start the third by McKayla Binkley, Creighton and Hannah Binkley (off a steal and fast break layup) for a 24-6 lead with 5:37 left in the quarter.
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After two points by Cox, the Lady Mustangs answered with a 9-0 run off points by Hannah Binkley and Fittro for a 33-8 advantage, as the run had a 3-pointer from Fittro with 3:23 left in the first half.
LC ended the first half with a 3-pointer from Creighton and jumpers from Sarah Rosselott and Little for a 40-13 lead at the half. Rosselott totaled eight points.
In the third, FHS (1-4, 3-7) outscored the Lady Mustangs, 13-12 with 11 of the points from Cox. Sowders added the other two points. Sowders finished the game with seven points.
"This was probably the first time all year we played better in the third quarter compared to how we played in the first half," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "We have to learn how to handle the press better. I thought we were improving, but we haven't see a team press like that all season.
"It was a tough matchup for us. We need to work for a good look and not continue to force things. We'll continue to work on it. We reverted back to bad habits when under pressure."
In the fourth, LC responded by outscoring FHS, 14-7.
LC will play again on Saturday as they will face the Peebles Lady Indians in a makeup SHAC game at LCHS with JV starting around 2:30 p.m. and the varsity game with a start time of around 6:30 p.m., as there will be four games played at LCHS that evening.
FHS will play again on Monday next week vs. Whiteoak as they have games Monday through Thursday next week. On Tuesday they will be at Manchester, Wednesday at Hillsboro and Thursday vs. Fayetteville.
In JV play, Thursday, LC defeated Fairfield, 53-22. Leading LC were Lexi Waits with 15 points and Bailey Leininger with 10. For the FHS JV team, Newkirk and Bobb each scored seven points.
The win at Fairfield's Grandle Gymnasium was set with a tone of defense equaling offense for LC in the first quarter, as the Lady Mustangs built a 12-0 lead with 3:27 left in the first quarter and from there never looked back.
In the 12-0 run by the visiting Lady Mustangs, Ali Little started the scoring with a two-point basket, followed by a 3-pointer by Morgan Fittro. From there, Hannah Binkley scored five consecutive points, including a 3-pointer with 4:56 left in the first for a 10-0 advantage. Little then scored a put-back basket with 3:27 left in the quarter.
LC (4-2, 8-4) had four players score at least 12 points in their Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory, with Madysyn Creighton and Hannah Binkley leading the way with 13 points each.
Fittro and Little each scored 12 points for the Lady Mustangs.
"This was a good team win," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We did a lot of good in the first quarter and played better than we did last Saturday.
"When we play well in the first quarter, that is what can happen. I'm happy with how the ladies played ... again, we played well as a team."
Fairfield put their first points on the board with a jumper from senior Heather Cox at the 3:00 mark. Cox led all scorers with 17 points.
In the final three minutes of the quarter, including the points from Cox, each team scored six points with Lydia Sowders scoring four points in the quarter for the Lady Lions and Little, McKayla Binkley and Creighton each adding two points in that span.
"Our fast break play up the floor looked really good," Lewis said. "Having four kids in double digits is what I want to see. We want balanced scoring."
With an 18-6 advantage headed into the second frame, LC added six consecutive points to start the third by McKayla Binkley, Creighton and Hannah Binkley (off a steal and fast break layup) for a 24-6 lead with 5:37 left in the quarter.
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After two points by Cox, the Lady Mustangs answered with a 9-0 run off points by Hannah Binkley and Fittro for a 33-8 advantage, as the run had a 3-pointer from Fittro with 3:23 left in the first half.
LC ended the first half with a 3-pointer from Creighton and jumpers from Sarah Rosselott and Little for a 40-13 lead at the half. Rosselott totaled eight points.
In the third, FHS (1-4, 3-7) outscored the Lady Mustangs, 13-12 with 11 of the points from Cox. Sowders added the other two points. Sowders finished the game with seven points.
"This was probably the first time all year we played better in the third quarter compared to how we played in the first half," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "We have to learn how to handle the press better. I thought we were improving, but we haven't see a team press like that all season.
"It was a tough matchup for us. We need to work for a good look and not continue to force things. We'll continue to work on it. We reverted back to bad habits when under pressure."
In the fourth, LC responded by outscoring FHS, 14-7.
LC will play again on Saturday as they will face the Peebles Lady Indians in a makeup SHAC game at LCHS with JV starting around 2:30 p.m. and the varsity game with a start time of around 6:30 p.m., as there will be four games played at LCHS that evening.
FHS will play again on Monday next week vs. Whiteoak as they have games Monday through Thursday next week. On Tuesday they will be at Manchester, Wednesday at Hillsboro and Thursday vs. Fayetteville.
In JV play, Thursday, LC defeated Fairfield, 53-22. Leading LC were Lexi Waits with 15 points and Bailey Leininger with 10. For the FHS JV team, Newkirk and Bobb each scored seven points.