Lady Mustangs fall to Warriors

     SARDINIA – After battling tough for three quarters the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs slowed down in the final eight minutes, allowing the Eastern Lady Warriors to gain a Southern Hills League win, defeating the Lady Mustangs 54-42 Monday night at EBHS.

     L-C was outscored 21-10 in the final quarter, after entering the fourth trailing by one point at 33-32.

     “The game was a lot closer than what the final score indicates. We sent them (Eastern Brown) to the line 16 times in the fourth,” Lynchburg-Clay head coach Linda Hatten said. “The girls play an excellent first quarter. We had a balanced offensive attack, but we broke down some in the fourth and they were successful with their big girls inside late in the game.”

     The Lady Mustangs (1-1, 2-2) led 16-11 after the first quarter, and then scored just four points in the second to trail 21-20 at the end of the first half.

     “In the second we had patience but we had a few critical turnovers,” Hatten said. “We went cold in our shooting. Our girls stopped their inside game in the first half.”

     The scoring output for both teams was the same in the third, with each team scoring 12.

     “Neither team got into a rhythm in the third,” Hatten said. “The key to the loss was the free throw shooting and we had back-to-back missed rebounds on free throws. That was critical for us as it was a six-point turnaround. We also had a couple travel calls that hurt.”

     L-C senior Lindsey Hawk led the Lady Mustangs with 11 points. She sank three 3-pointers. Hawk was 4 of 6 shooting for 67 percent. She also led L-C with six assists.

     Junior Lillian Blankenship ended the game with 10 points. She made two 3-pointers.

     Senior Cali Hatten netted nine points for L-C, finished 4 of 7 shooting for 57 percent. Sophomore Brooke Hertlein scored eight followed with junior Meredith Fittro and freshman Laney Lewis each scoring two.

     “All the girls had decent games, but Lindsey did an excellent job of running the floor,” Hatten said. “Cali did an excellent job of defending their taller girls. They were four inches taller than she was.”

     Prine led EBHS with 11 points, sinking one 3-point shot. Hertlein led L-C with 11 rebounds. Cali Hatten grabbed six boards.

     L-C will play again Thursday as they travel to Leesburg to face the Fairfield Lady Lions. JV play starts at 6 p.m.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LCHS – 16 4 12 10 – 42

EBHS – 11 10 12 21 – 54

INDIVIDUAL STATS

LCHS (42)

L.Blankenship 1 (2) 2 10, M.Fittro 1 0 2, L.Lewis 1 0 2, C.Hatten 4 1 9, B.Hertlein 3 2 8, L.Hawk 1 (3) 0 11. TOTALS: 11 (5) 5 42.