Lady Mustangs fall in districts; Hatten ends coaching career
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WAVERLY — A coaching career came to a close and a season was finalized Monday evening at Waverly High School, with the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs dropping their Division III SE District semifinal game to the Ironton Lady Tigers 36-27.
The 22-year varsity coaching career of Linda Hatten ended with 352 wins, as L-C won the sectional title last week, but on Monday the low scoring, tough defensive attack of Ironton was too much for the Lady Mustangs to overcome as they were outscored 17-6 in the final eight minutes.
"We told them at the half if we let Ironton get a lead on us we would have to leave the zone and go to man-to-man on defense," Linda Hatten said. "We had to switch and we just couldn't counter. We didn't capitalize on anything. We didn't have any consistent scoring."
Ironton began the fourth with a 10-0 run to take a 29-21 advantage.
The run started off with senior Brea Tackett tying the game at 21 with an off-balanced basket, followed with a 3-pointer by the senior to put IHS up 24-21 with 6:32 left in regulation. IHS senior Lorna Ceaser added two points from the floor and teammate Janie Morris put in two shots from the free-throw line to give the Lady Tigers a seven-point lead at 28-21. Rebekkah Potter finished the 10-point run with a free throw conversion.
LC freshman Laney Lewis scored the first Lady Mustang point of the fourth with a free throw, but Tackett completed the same feat to put IHS back up eight.
Tackett dominated the final minutes netting seven straight IHS points, including a steal and transition points to put the Lady Tigers up 34-24 sealing the game with 1:05 left in the fourth.
LC senior Lindsey Hawk nailed a 3-pointer with under a minute remaining.
"We knew it was going to be a low scoring game, that was part of the game plan," Hatten said. "But we have to make buckets and when a game has this low of scoring, every missed shot is crucial."
The opening eight minutes saw each team struggle to net points as the score was tied at seven after eight minutes were in the books.
IHS started off with a 3-0 lead, but LC senior Cali Hatten and sophomore Brooke Hertlein put LC in the lead at 4-3 at the 5:13 mark of the first. Hatten finished with seven points.
After IHS made the score 5-4 in their favor, Hawk converted two free throws to give LC the advantage at 6-2 with 2:32 remaining in the opening frame.
LC junior Hannah Blankenship tied the game at seven with a free throw with just 1.5 left in the quarter.
The Lady Mustangs trailed after the first half was completed by a score of 13-11.
IHS broke the first quarter tie with the second frame's first points with a put back bucket from Nikki Elswick.
Hatten and Hawk each followed with free throws, but IHS was there to crack the 9-9 tie with points from Alex Taylor. Hatten tied the game at 11 with an inside basket, off a smooth pass from junior Lillian Blankenship with 3:46 left in the first half for LC's final points of the opening 16 minutes.
The Lady Mustangs won the third at 10-6, but it was Ironton who scored first with put back points from Elswick.
Hawk followed with a 3-pointer at the 6:53 mark, but IHS added to their lead, taking a 17-14 advantage. Hawk led LC with 11 points.
Lewis made two baskets from the free-throw line to come within one-point of tying IHS.
With IHS leading 19-16 later in the quarter, Hannah Blankenship began the LC comeback with a 3-pointer at the 2:01 mark of the third, as LC took the lead with inside points by Hatten to give LC a 21-19 lead after three quarters.
Two LC playing careers came to an end in the district semifinal as Hatten and Hawk played their final varsity games.
"Cali and Lindsey have been the nucleus of this team," Hatten said. "They kept the kids together and have been good role models. They get straight A's and they haven't missed any type of workout, practice or open gym. They are great senior leaders and have set the tone. They led by example.
"I told the juniors after the game to continue the tradition."
As for Coach Hatten her time at the helm of LC girls basketball program is done, but she smiled as she spoke about her time, while holding back tears.
"I couldn't have asked for a better 22 years of my life," she said. "I have no regrets and have a ton of memories. I have made a lot of friendships that have developed along the way and met a lot of good people."
The Lady Mustangs finish the season at 15-7 overall.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
LCHS - 7 4 10 6 - 27
IHS - 7 6 6 17 - 36
INDIVIDUAL STATS
IHS (36)
Potter 0 1-2 1, Taylor 1 2-4 4, Elswick 3 6, Tackett 3 (1) 5-6 14, Morris 0
2-2 2, Ceaser 4 1-4 9. TOTALS: 11 (1) 11-20 36.
LCHS (27)
H.Blankenship 0 (1) 1-2 4, Lewis 0 3-4 3, Hatten 3 1-2 7, Hertlein 1 0-1 2,
Hawk 0 (2) 5-8 11. TOTALS: 4 (3) 10-19 27.[[In-content Ad]]
The 22-year varsity coaching career of Linda Hatten ended with 352 wins, as L-C won the sectional title last week, but on Monday the low scoring, tough defensive attack of Ironton was too much for the Lady Mustangs to overcome as they were outscored 17-6 in the final eight minutes.
"We told them at the half if we let Ironton get a lead on us we would have to leave the zone and go to man-to-man on defense," Linda Hatten said. "We had to switch and we just couldn't counter. We didn't capitalize on anything. We didn't have any consistent scoring."
Ironton began the fourth with a 10-0 run to take a 29-21 advantage.
The run started off with senior Brea Tackett tying the game at 21 with an off-balanced basket, followed with a 3-pointer by the senior to put IHS up 24-21 with 6:32 left in regulation. IHS senior Lorna Ceaser added two points from the floor and teammate Janie Morris put in two shots from the free-throw line to give the Lady Tigers a seven-point lead at 28-21. Rebekkah Potter finished the 10-point run with a free throw conversion.
LC freshman Laney Lewis scored the first Lady Mustang point of the fourth with a free throw, but Tackett completed the same feat to put IHS back up eight.
Tackett dominated the final minutes netting seven straight IHS points, including a steal and transition points to put the Lady Tigers up 34-24 sealing the game with 1:05 left in the fourth.
LC senior Lindsey Hawk nailed a 3-pointer with under a minute remaining.
"We knew it was going to be a low scoring game, that was part of the game plan," Hatten said. "But we have to make buckets and when a game has this low of scoring, every missed shot is crucial."
The opening eight minutes saw each team struggle to net points as the score was tied at seven after eight minutes were in the books.
IHS started off with a 3-0 lead, but LC senior Cali Hatten and sophomore Brooke Hertlein put LC in the lead at 4-3 at the 5:13 mark of the first. Hatten finished with seven points.
After IHS made the score 5-4 in their favor, Hawk converted two free throws to give LC the advantage at 6-2 with 2:32 remaining in the opening frame.
LC junior Hannah Blankenship tied the game at seven with a free throw with just 1.5 left in the quarter.
The Lady Mustangs trailed after the first half was completed by a score of 13-11.
IHS broke the first quarter tie with the second frame's first points with a put back bucket from Nikki Elswick.
Hatten and Hawk each followed with free throws, but IHS was there to crack the 9-9 tie with points from Alex Taylor. Hatten tied the game at 11 with an inside basket, off a smooth pass from junior Lillian Blankenship with 3:46 left in the first half for LC's final points of the opening 16 minutes.
The Lady Mustangs won the third at 10-6, but it was Ironton who scored first with put back points from Elswick.
Hawk followed with a 3-pointer at the 6:53 mark, but IHS added to their lead, taking a 17-14 advantage. Hawk led LC with 11 points.
Lewis made two baskets from the free-throw line to come within one-point of tying IHS.
With IHS leading 19-16 later in the quarter, Hannah Blankenship began the LC comeback with a 3-pointer at the 2:01 mark of the third, as LC took the lead with inside points by Hatten to give LC a 21-19 lead after three quarters.
Two LC playing careers came to an end in the district semifinal as Hatten and Hawk played their final varsity games.
"Cali and Lindsey have been the nucleus of this team," Hatten said. "They kept the kids together and have been good role models. They get straight A's and they haven't missed any type of workout, practice or open gym. They are great senior leaders and have set the tone. They led by example.
"I told the juniors after the game to continue the tradition."
As for Coach Hatten her time at the helm of LC girls basketball program is done, but she smiled as she spoke about her time, while holding back tears.
"I couldn't have asked for a better 22 years of my life," she said. "I have no regrets and have a ton of memories. I have made a lot of friendships that have developed along the way and met a lot of good people."
The Lady Mustangs finish the season at 15-7 overall.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
LCHS - 7 4 10 6 - 27
IHS - 7 6 6 17 - 36
INDIVIDUAL STATS
IHS (36)
Potter 0 1-2 1, Taylor 1 2-4 4, Elswick 3 6, Tackett 3 (1) 5-6 14, Morris 0
2-2 2, Ceaser 4 1-4 9. TOTALS: 11 (1) 11-20 36.
LCHS (27)
H.Blankenship 0 (1) 1-2 4, Lewis 0 3-4 3, Hatten 3 1-2 7, Hertlein 1 0-1 2,
Hawk 0 (2) 5-8 11. TOTALS: 4 (3) 10-19 27.[[In-content Ad]]