Lady Mustangs earn 11th win of season; defeat Fairfield
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
In their non-league meeting of the season, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs controlled all aspects of the game from start to finish, but not without being tested by the visiting Fairfield Lady Lions.
Though LC led from start to finish, the Lady Lions continued to battle, but came up short against their Highland County rival, with LC winning over FHS by a 57-37 score Monday at LCHS.
It was the defense of the Lady Mustangs that proved to be the biggest difference of the game as they unofficially forced FHS into 25 turnovers, including 11 turnovers in the first quarter where the Lady Mustangs built a 17-3 lead after eight minutes.
"This is a good start to the week, because we didn't play that well last week," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We pressured the ball and let our defense create our offense."
And did the defense ever create offense in the first quarter, with LC building a 10-0 lead within the first four minutes of the game, starting with a put-back basket from Sarah Rosselott for a 2-0 lead.
LC never trailed as Hannah Binkley forced the game's first turnover with a block, followed by a steal and layup from Morgan Fittro. From there, Rosselott stole the ball and scored on a layup, and McKayla Binkley sank a jumper with 5:16 left in the first for a lead of 8-0.
The 10-0 run became fulfilled with fast break points from Rosselott. The first points by the Lady Lions came off a layup from Heather Cox at the 3:56 mark of the quarter.
Cox finished the game with a game-high 20 points. The FHS senior is now just 11 points away from achieving 1,000 points for her high school career. She's also 65 points away from breaking the FHS girls basketball school record for points in a career.
From there, LC outscored their county visitors, 7-1 to end the quarter with all seven points by Hannah Binkley, including a 3-pointer at the 3:45 mark of the opening quarter, eventually putting the Lady Lions down 14 points in the first frame. Hannah Binkley led LC with 14 points.
By the time the second frame ended, LC led 36-18, outscoring the Lady Lions, 19-15.
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"This was the hardest we played all year," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "I was happy with the effort, but we continue to take too long to get going.
"This was better than the first time we played them, but the effort was great ,and that is all I can ask as a coach. We made adjustments, but we trailed by 14 points after the first, and it was just too much to overcome."
The second frame saw FHS be the first to score points with a jumper from Cox, but the duo of Bailey Leininger and McKayla Binkley eventually put LC ahead 21-5. McKayla Binkley finished with six points and five rebounds.
Later in the second, Lydia Sowders scored four straight points with one of the baskets assisted by Haley Bobb to bring FHS within 11 points of LC with 3:49 left in the opening half.
LC answered the four-point run of FHS with eight consecutive points by Madysyn Creighton, Rosselott and Hannah Binkley for a 34-15 lead with 1:52 left in the quarter. Creighton finished with 11 points, and Rosselott totaled 13 points, along with five rebounds and two assists.
Scoring was a bit scarce in the third with LC outscoring FHS, 9-6 in the quarter. In the final eight minutes, with LC having the game well in-hand, the Lady Lions won the quarter, 13-12.
Also for FHS, Kaitlin Evans scored 11 points.
The Lady Mustangs totaled 33 rebounds in the game.
In JV play, LC defeated the Lady Lions, 52-13. Leading LC was Vanessa Thiel with 20 points. Abby Newkirk led FHS with six points.
Though LC led from start to finish, the Lady Lions continued to battle, but came up short against their Highland County rival, with LC winning over FHS by a 57-37 score Monday at LCHS.
It was the defense of the Lady Mustangs that proved to be the biggest difference of the game as they unofficially forced FHS into 25 turnovers, including 11 turnovers in the first quarter where the Lady Mustangs built a 17-3 lead after eight minutes.
"This is a good start to the week, because we didn't play that well last week," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We pressured the ball and let our defense create our offense."
And did the defense ever create offense in the first quarter, with LC building a 10-0 lead within the first four minutes of the game, starting with a put-back basket from Sarah Rosselott for a 2-0 lead.
LC never trailed as Hannah Binkley forced the game's first turnover with a block, followed by a steal and layup from Morgan Fittro. From there, Rosselott stole the ball and scored on a layup, and McKayla Binkley sank a jumper with 5:16 left in the first for a lead of 8-0.
The 10-0 run became fulfilled with fast break points from Rosselott. The first points by the Lady Lions came off a layup from Heather Cox at the 3:56 mark of the quarter.
Cox finished the game with a game-high 20 points. The FHS senior is now just 11 points away from achieving 1,000 points for her high school career. She's also 65 points away from breaking the FHS girls basketball school record for points in a career.
From there, LC outscored their county visitors, 7-1 to end the quarter with all seven points by Hannah Binkley, including a 3-pointer at the 3:45 mark of the opening quarter, eventually putting the Lady Lions down 14 points in the first frame. Hannah Binkley led LC with 14 points.
By the time the second frame ended, LC led 36-18, outscoring the Lady Lions, 19-15.
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"This was the hardest we played all year," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "I was happy with the effort, but we continue to take too long to get going.
"This was better than the first time we played them, but the effort was great ,and that is all I can ask as a coach. We made adjustments, but we trailed by 14 points after the first, and it was just too much to overcome."
The second frame saw FHS be the first to score points with a jumper from Cox, but the duo of Bailey Leininger and McKayla Binkley eventually put LC ahead 21-5. McKayla Binkley finished with six points and five rebounds.
Later in the second, Lydia Sowders scored four straight points with one of the baskets assisted by Haley Bobb to bring FHS within 11 points of LC with 3:49 left in the opening half.
LC answered the four-point run of FHS with eight consecutive points by Madysyn Creighton, Rosselott and Hannah Binkley for a 34-15 lead with 1:52 left in the quarter. Creighton finished with 11 points, and Rosselott totaled 13 points, along with five rebounds and two assists.
Scoring was a bit scarce in the third with LC outscoring FHS, 9-6 in the quarter. In the final eight minutes, with LC having the game well in-hand, the Lady Lions won the quarter, 13-12.
Also for FHS, Kaitlin Evans scored 11 points.
The Lady Mustangs totaled 33 rebounds in the game.
In JV play, LC defeated the Lady Lions, 52-13. Leading LC was Vanessa Thiel with 20 points. Abby Newkirk led FHS with six points.