Lady Mustangs fend off Eastern for SHAC victory

DODSONVILLE — The bend-but-not-break defense of the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs was on display Monday, as they fended off multiple pressure-packed in-game situations against the Eastern Lady Warriors.

For all the momentum swings Eastern had for Lynchburg-Clay, it was the Lady Mustangs who didn’t lose the lead in the final three frames, defeating their Southern Hills Athletic Conference rival, 45-42 for their first win of the season. 

“I thought we came out in the first half and just played great defense, shut down any easy shots, and really played well and executed,” LCHS head coach Whitney Lewis said. “In the second half when a team is down, and Eastern is well-coached and have good team discipline, we knew they were going to come out swinging. 

“We answered the call, and I wish we took better care of the ball, but it is the second game of the season, and that’s something we can work on. The biggest takeaway is that we need to take care of the ball better, but we came away with the win, and I’m super proud of how our kids responded to that, even in those moments where the game was turning and the momentum was going a different way.”

Lynchburg-Clay (1-0, 1-1) trailed only in the first quarter on two occasions, but after being tied 9-9 at the conclusion of the first quarter, the Lady Mustangs held the lead at the end of the final three frames. LCHS led by 12 points at halftime and by as many as 16 points in the third quarter at the 6:53 mark. 

In the fourth frame, Lynchburg-Clay led by as many as 12 points with 6:35 left in regulation, but Eastern made a comeback to get to within three points as the final buzzer sounded. The win by LCHS is their third consecutive victory against Eastern in the past two seasons. 

“They (Eastern) pressured us a lot more in the front court and made us go faster, wanted to speed us up, and put more pressure on the basketball to make us do things we didn’t want to do,” Lewis said. “At times it worked, but we were able to scrap through that and come out on top.” 

Both teams scored nine points in the opening frame, with Eastern starting the scoring in the game with a basket by sophomore Sophia Uhl with that bucket coming at the 6:40 mark. Uhl finished with 14 points for the Lady Warriors. 

LCHS tied the game with a basket by junior Addy Carraher at the 4:51 mark of the first, and from there Eastern took a two-point lead with another basket by Uhl, but the Lady Mustangs answered with two free throws by sophomore Lily Ferguson, then a 3-pointer from senior Ava McLaughlin for a 7-4 LCHS advantage. Ferguson finished the game with 10 points, while McLaughlin scored seven points in the win. 

Eastern cut LC’s lead to one point, but Carraher extended the hosts lead to three points with points in the paint. Eastern ended the first with a 3-pointer by Uhl for the 9-9 score. 

LCHS outscored the Lady Warriors 15-3 in the second half as not only was their offense strong, but their defense was stronger, as LCHS kept the Lady Warriors to one field goal and one made free throw.

The Lady Mustangs’ second quarter consisted of baskets by Ferguson, senior Joslyn Rockey (who totaled three points), junior Savannah Bell, McLaughlin and Carraher. Bell — who finished with six points —  and Carraher each made a 3-pointer in the quarter as Carraher’s trey came with 16 seconds left in the frame, allowing the Lady Mustangs to double the score of Eastern for a 24-12 lead. 

Eastern won the third frame at 11-9, but the Lady Mustangs began the quarter by building their lead to 16 points with a jumper from McLaughlin and a put-back bucket from Ferguson for a 28-12 score. 

Eastern answered with 11 consecutive points with baskets by Sophia Uhl and junior Olivia Uhl, cutting the LCHS lead to five points with 4:01 left in the third. Olivia Uhl led the Lady Warriors with 15 points. 

Lynchburg-Clay broke the scoring run with a layup from junior Madison McMullen at the 2:30 mark of the third, as LCHS scored the final five points of the third frame with a free throw made by Rockey and another basket by McMullen for a 10-point lead at 33-23. McMullen ended the game with nine points.

Eastern outscored the Lady Mustangs 19-12, starting with a 3-pointer from Olivia Uhl, but LCHS answered with baskets from McMullen and Bell for a 38-26 lead with 6:35 left in regulation. 

The Lady Warriors scored the next seven points to get two within five points of the LCHS lead, but the Lady Mustangs came back with a basket by Ferguson, and later a 3-pointer by Carraher with 2:33 on the clock made the score 43-35. Carraher ended the win with 10 points. 

Eastern continued to pressure LCHS as they scored seven of the final nine points in the game, but the Lady Mustangs held on for a three-point win. 

Eastern also had final scoring from senior Vivian Grimes with three points, senior Alyssa Johnston with eight points and freshman Bentley Burns with two points. 

As a team, LCHS totaled 12 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers (Bell, McLaughlin, Carraher 2, McMullen), and they were 6-of-16 from the free-throw line. Eastern finished with totals of 15 two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and they were 6-of-12 from the free-throw line. 

Coach Lewis spoke about the team and where they stand after two games. 

“I love our energy. We lost on Saturday to Minford, and Minford is a good basketball team. I thought our energy was great on Saturday and we shot the ball well, and we executed well on defense,” Lewis said. “Our biggest foe this year is going to be our rebounding. 

“We are going to be the smallest team on the floor every single game we play, so we are going to have to find a way to get those rebounds so teams don’t get second-chance points against us. Tonight our crowd was great, and that helped change the momentum at times, and again, I loved our energy. I’m super happy with where we are at and how we come into a game and are ready to play.” 

Next for LCHS is a game on Monday, Dec. 1 at home against the McClain Lady Tigers in non-conference action. 

BOX SCORE
EHS      09 03 11 19 — 42
LCHS    09 15 09 12 — 45

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (45) — L.Ferguson 4 (0) 2-6 10, S.Bell 1 (1) 1-6 6, J.Rockey 1 (0) 1-2 3, A.McLaughlin 2 (1) 0-0 7, M.McMullen 3 (1) 0-0 9, A.Carraher 1 (2) 2-2 10. TOTALS: 12 (5) 6-16 45. 

EASTERN (42) — V.Grimes 1 (0) 1-2 3, O.Uhl 3 (2) 3-5 15, A.Johnston 4 (0) 0-0 8, S.Uhl 6 (0) 2-5 14, B.Burns 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 15 (2) 6-12 42.