Lady Mustangs burnt as Lady Green Devils heat up 4th frame
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — Thursday can best be described as a missed opportunity for the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs.
The Southern Hills League contest was all but set to go the way of LC after three quarters, but everything was lost in the final eight minutes, with the North Adams Lady Green Devils finally taking advantage of the miscues and foul trouble of LC to take a 48-36 league win back to Adams County.
In their previous meeting this season, the Lady Green Devils won by a score of 42-39 at NAHS, where in that game LC was 4-of-7 from the free-throw line and NA was 13-of-28.
Kind of the same thing occurred on Thursday as the Lady Green Devils were 24-of-29, and the host Lady Mustangs were 2-of-2.
Though there was a big difference from the free-throw line, the game still came back to missed opportunities by both teams, as NA scored as many points in the final frame (24) as they did in the first three quarters combined.
"We couldn't get the ball past half court, and you can't win games when you can't control the basketball," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We got flustered … at one point we had five turnovers. We were turning over the ball way too much.
"We held them for three quarters, but again, we just got flustered in the fourth quarter."
In that final quarter, LC was outscored 24-6, where at one point four players were on the floor with four fouls each in the final frame for the Lady Mustangs, who were playing in a home game for the first time since Dec. 19. Since then, LC has played away from their home court six consecutive games, all of which were wins.
They couldn't get their seventh consecutive win on Thursday as the loss sent them to 9-5 overall and 4-4 in the SHL. The win keeps NA near the top of the Division I SHL standings at 8-2 in league play and 11-5 overall.
Back to the fourth quarter at LCHS on Thursday … it began with LC leading 30-24, but all of that changed quickly as NA hit two free throws by Corey Pertuset. In fact, Pertuset made 12 consecutive free throws in the game, six in the fourth for 12 points on the night.
Alisan Sparks, who finished with 10 points, followed with a jumper to bring NA within two points, and with 5:29 left on the clock, Emily Fite scored put-back points, tying the game at 30.
The run by NA continued with what turned into five consecutive turnovers committed by LC, turning into a lead of 33-30 for NA as Laynee Davis stole the ball at mid-court, taking the ball to the hoop uncontested at the 5:09 mark of the fourth. Davis led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers.
Following turnovers, fouls and missed shot attempts by LC, North Adams' Taylor Gast converted the first of five straight free throws in the final quarter for the aforementioned three-point lead. Gast finished with seven points.
[[In-content Ad]]With LC on the ropes, many chances of a comeback went away with scoring leader Brooke Hertlein fouling out with 3:48 left on the clock, taking away a valuable part of the LC offense off the court.
LC finally snapped what was an 11-0 run by NA to open the fourth with two points by Emma Setty, cutting the NA lead to three points at 35-32 with 2:59 left on the clock.
NA responded in a big way, scoring seven straight, including a 3-pointer at the 2:07 mark for an eight-point lead of 40-32.
Again, Setty broke up the run with a layup off the glass, but it was too late as NA made six consecutive free throws, sealing the win.
"Our defense is good, we just need to learn to score points," Lewis said. "We need to learn to score baskets, and until then we are going to struggle."
For three quarters LC totaled 30 points, including a 14-point second frame mixed between two eight-point quarters. In that same span, the Lady Green Devils had quarters of six, 14 and four.
Though LC led 8-6 after the first quarter, it was NA who opened strong with five straight points from a layup to open the game by Gast and a 3-pointer from Davis. LC made it a 5-4 game with points by Hertlein and Laney Lewis (who finished with six points), eventually tying the score at six with a jumper by Hertlein with 2:15 left in the quarter. LC took the lead to end the quarter with points by Setty. Setty led all LC scorers with 11 points.
The Lady Mustangs extended their lead to four points to start the second with a put-back basket by Hertlein. Hertlein finished the game with 10 points.
Also in the second, Karen Hilt made three 3-pointers, including back-to-back treys that put LC ahead 19-14 with 2:51 left in the second.
From the 6:12 mark until the 2:51 mark, both teams combined for five straight 3-pointers with Hilt's three and one from Sparks and Davis.
By the end of the second, NA cut the LC lead to two points at 22-20.
In the third, LC outscored NA 8-4 with points from Lewis and Hertlein. All four NA points were from the free-throw line.
LC will take the court again on Monday, Jan. 23 when they host former SHL member Georgetown. G-Town is ranked No. 7 in the state by the Associated Press in Division III, currently standing at 12-0.
In JV play, NA defeated LC 38-28. Leading LC was Ginny Gadzinski with nine points. Leading NA was Rylee Copas with 13.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
NA 06 14 04 24 — 48
LC 08 14 08 06 — 36
INDIVIDUAL STATS
NA (48)
C.Pertuset 0 (0) 12-12 12
L.Davis 1 (3) 5-6 16
T.Gast 1 (0) 5-6 7
E.Fite 1 (0) 1-3 3
A.Sparks 3 (1) 1-2 10
TOTALS: 6 (4) 24-29 48
LC (36)
K.Hilt 0 (3) 0-0 9
L.Lewis 3 (0) 0-0 6
B.Hertlein 4 (0) 2-2 10
E.Setty 4 (1) 0-0 11
TOTALS: 11 (3) 2-2 36
The Southern Hills League contest was all but set to go the way of LC after three quarters, but everything was lost in the final eight minutes, with the North Adams Lady Green Devils finally taking advantage of the miscues and foul trouble of LC to take a 48-36 league win back to Adams County.
In their previous meeting this season, the Lady Green Devils won by a score of 42-39 at NAHS, where in that game LC was 4-of-7 from the free-throw line and NA was 13-of-28.
Kind of the same thing occurred on Thursday as the Lady Green Devils were 24-of-29, and the host Lady Mustangs were 2-of-2.
Though there was a big difference from the free-throw line, the game still came back to missed opportunities by both teams, as NA scored as many points in the final frame (24) as they did in the first three quarters combined.
"We couldn't get the ball past half court, and you can't win games when you can't control the basketball," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We got flustered … at one point we had five turnovers. We were turning over the ball way too much.
"We held them for three quarters, but again, we just got flustered in the fourth quarter."
In that final quarter, LC was outscored 24-6, where at one point four players were on the floor with four fouls each in the final frame for the Lady Mustangs, who were playing in a home game for the first time since Dec. 19. Since then, LC has played away from their home court six consecutive games, all of which were wins.
They couldn't get their seventh consecutive win on Thursday as the loss sent them to 9-5 overall and 4-4 in the SHL. The win keeps NA near the top of the Division I SHL standings at 8-2 in league play and 11-5 overall.
Back to the fourth quarter at LCHS on Thursday … it began with LC leading 30-24, but all of that changed quickly as NA hit two free throws by Corey Pertuset. In fact, Pertuset made 12 consecutive free throws in the game, six in the fourth for 12 points on the night.
Alisan Sparks, who finished with 10 points, followed with a jumper to bring NA within two points, and with 5:29 left on the clock, Emily Fite scored put-back points, tying the game at 30.
The run by NA continued with what turned into five consecutive turnovers committed by LC, turning into a lead of 33-30 for NA as Laynee Davis stole the ball at mid-court, taking the ball to the hoop uncontested at the 5:09 mark of the fourth. Davis led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers.
Following turnovers, fouls and missed shot attempts by LC, North Adams' Taylor Gast converted the first of five straight free throws in the final quarter for the aforementioned three-point lead. Gast finished with seven points.
[[In-content Ad]]With LC on the ropes, many chances of a comeback went away with scoring leader Brooke Hertlein fouling out with 3:48 left on the clock, taking away a valuable part of the LC offense off the court.
LC finally snapped what was an 11-0 run by NA to open the fourth with two points by Emma Setty, cutting the NA lead to three points at 35-32 with 2:59 left on the clock.
NA responded in a big way, scoring seven straight, including a 3-pointer at the 2:07 mark for an eight-point lead of 40-32.
Again, Setty broke up the run with a layup off the glass, but it was too late as NA made six consecutive free throws, sealing the win.
"Our defense is good, we just need to learn to score points," Lewis said. "We need to learn to score baskets, and until then we are going to struggle."
For three quarters LC totaled 30 points, including a 14-point second frame mixed between two eight-point quarters. In that same span, the Lady Green Devils had quarters of six, 14 and four.
Though LC led 8-6 after the first quarter, it was NA who opened strong with five straight points from a layup to open the game by Gast and a 3-pointer from Davis. LC made it a 5-4 game with points by Hertlein and Laney Lewis (who finished with six points), eventually tying the score at six with a jumper by Hertlein with 2:15 left in the quarter. LC took the lead to end the quarter with points by Setty. Setty led all LC scorers with 11 points.
The Lady Mustangs extended their lead to four points to start the second with a put-back basket by Hertlein. Hertlein finished the game with 10 points.
Also in the second, Karen Hilt made three 3-pointers, including back-to-back treys that put LC ahead 19-14 with 2:51 left in the second.
From the 6:12 mark until the 2:51 mark, both teams combined for five straight 3-pointers with Hilt's three and one from Sparks and Davis.
By the end of the second, NA cut the LC lead to two points at 22-20.
In the third, LC outscored NA 8-4 with points from Lewis and Hertlein. All four NA points were from the free-throw line.
LC will take the court again on Monday, Jan. 23 when they host former SHL member Georgetown. G-Town is ranked No. 7 in the state by the Associated Press in Division III, currently standing at 12-0.
In JV play, NA defeated LC 38-28. Leading LC was Ginny Gadzinski with nine points. Leading NA was Rylee Copas with 13.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
NA 06 14 04 24 — 48
LC 08 14 08 06 — 36
INDIVIDUAL STATS
NA (48)
C.Pertuset 0 (0) 12-12 12
L.Davis 1 (3) 5-6 16
T.Gast 1 (0) 5-6 7
E.Fite 1 (0) 1-3 3
A.Sparks 3 (1) 1-2 10
TOTALS: 6 (4) 24-29 48
LC (36)
K.Hilt 0 (3) 0-0 9
L.Lewis 3 (0) 0-0 6
B.Hertlein 4 (0) 2-2 10
E.Setty 4 (1) 0-0 11
TOTALS: 11 (3) 2-2 36