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Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs end season against Minford 

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Lynchburg-Clay senior Addison West sank a basket from the floor against Minford Thursday. West led the Lady Mustangs with 17 points. (HCP Photos/Stephen Forsha)
By
Stephen Forsha, The Highland County Press

WAVERLY — The season didn’t last as long as the No. 7 seeded Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs wanted it to, as they fell in their Division III SE District Semifinal game against the No. 6 seeded Minford Lady Falcons, 48-42 at the Waverly Downtown Gym. 

At times during their district semifinal game the Lady Mustangs held the lead, including at least once in each quarter played, leading at halftime, and the game was tied headed into the fourth quarter. 

As for LCHS, trailing by five to six points in the final 1:30, they missed their final three shots and were unable to take advantage of a 1-of-8 performance from the free-throw line by Minford in the final 1:23 of the game, as the Lady Mustangs eventually fell by six points. 

“I was super proud that we came out ready to play,” Lynchburg-Clay head coach Whitney Lewis said. “We came out with a lot of intensity and energy, came out being effective on the offensive end. Minford’s a good team; they're big, strong, aggressive. Give credit to their defense, they really messed with the flow of our offense, and we weren’t able to get some shots that we typically do. Then in the second half, those shots just didn't fall. We had some opportunities, just weren’t able to put the ball in the basket. Unfortunately, it kind of came down to that. 

“Everybody that got in the game did what we needed them to. Defensively, we put up a good effort. We gave up some second-chance points that kind of hurt us, but overall, I thought our defensive effort was where it needed to be. We just, like I said, couldn't make some shots, some timely shots when we needed to. That’s the way it goes.”

Minford started off strong with the first four points of the game, but LCHS had answers in the first quarter, going on a 10-0 run from the 6:21 mark to the 4:06 mark of the first frame as Macy Etienne sank a 3-pointer, Addison West made a 3-pointer, Jade Massey converted two free throws, and Madison McMullen scored two points in the paint off an assist by Ella Barry for a 10-4 lead. 

Minford regained the lead with a 7-0 run to end the first quarter off a put-back bucket from Baylee Hammonds, a 3-pointer by Maggie Risner and a layup by Marlee Pendleton with 22 seconds left in the first for the 11-10 lead. 

To start the second quarter, Lynchburg-Clay didn’t “Go West;” rather, they “went to West,” as the senior scored 10 points to start the second frame with two 3-pointers, followed by an athletic play where she was nearly sitting on the ground, shot the ball and scored two points. Plus, West added two points from the free-throw line to put LCHS ahead 20-11 with 6:04 left on the second-quarter clock. 

Minford scored two points, only to see the Lady Mustangs have the next four points scored off two baskets by Etienne with the assists by West for a 24-13 lead. Minford scored the final six points in the second frame, but it was LCHS leading 24-19 at halftime. 

The Lady Falcons outscored Lynchburg-Clay in the third at 11-6, tying the score at 30. In the third, Massey made two baskets for four points for LCHS, and Barry also added two points. 

Minford’s third consisted of three points by Risner, three points scored by Lexi Conkel and five points by Lindsee Williams, putting the score tied at 30 points each going into the fourth frame. 

LCHS opened the fourth with a 3-pointer by Etienne, but MHS came back with eight consecutive points. West broke up the scoring by Minford with two free throws, only to have a 3-pointer by Conkel to put MHS ahead 42-35 with 4:21 left in the fourth. 

The Lady Mustangs eventually got to within six points of tying the score, only to see MHS add points with a layup. Massey kept battling and sank a 3-pointer with 3:40 on the clock, but MHS hit a basket to extended their lead to 45-39. 

Massey made another 3-pointer, shooting the ball over the defender and swishing the basket, but after that LCHS failed to make any more shots for the rest of the game. 

Conkel led MHS with 17 points, followed by Pendleton with nine points, Risner with eight points and Williams with eight points. Also for Minford, Baylee Cronin totaled four points, and scoring two points was Ava Cronin. 

LCHS’s scoring leader was West with 17 points, while Massey totaled 11 points and Etienne totaled 10 points. Fellow senior Barry and teammate McMullen each scored two points.

As a team, LCHS had eight two-point baskets, six 3-pointers and they were 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Minford made 14 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers and were 5-of-14 from the free throw line. 

Seniors for LCHS are Jade Massey, Macy Etienne, Ella Barry and Addison West. 

“This group of seniors is pretty special,” Lewis said. “They've all had their success in four years. I think all four of them came in as freshmen and had to play some significant varsity minutes, just because of our numbers. They've all left their mark on our program in a very positive way. The underclassmen were fortunate to have had them to kind of look up to, and they’re just good role models for everyone watching.”

Lynchburg-Clay finishes the season at 18-6 overall. Minford improves to 19-5 overall. 

Lewis thanked the community for their continued support.

“We always have great support from our fans, community, schools and administration,” Lewis said. “Some of the sixth, seventh and eighth graders wrote us good luck notes for goodie bags. It's nice to have that support. The girls appreciate it, and you know, in basketball, sometimes that's a sixth man for us. 

“This gym is made for those type of crowds and environments. I thought that was nice for the kids, our seniors especially, to be able to play in this type of atmosphere. I wish we could be coming back, but again, that's kind of how it falls.”


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