Lady Mustangs passed by Lady G-Men 45-34

     DODSONVILLE – Offensive breakdowns doomed the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs Monday evening, as scoring was hard to come by in the second and third quarters, with LCHS falling to non-league foe Georgetown 45-34.

     The loss drops the Lady Mustangs to 5-3 overall. Georgetown improves to 6-0 overall.

     In the second and third quarters L-C was held to nine combined points, with the Lady G-Men doubling the effort with 18 points total in the same time frame. The Lady G-Men scored 10 points in the third quarter.

     “We had breakdowns with our passing,” Lynchburg-Clay head coach Linda Hatten said. “We could have had the lead at the half but we missed put back opportunities.”

     The first quarter ended with the Lady Mustangs leading by a score of 14-12.

     L-C came out at the start of the game with a 7-0 run.

     Brooke Hertlein began with a 3-pointer, then nailed a jumper, under heavy defensive pressure, with 5:38 left in the opening quarter. Cali Hatten followed with inside points for the 7-0 lead.

     Georgetown came back with six straight points, but with 1:36 left in the quarter Hatten went around her defender and knocked down two points for the Lady Mustangs.

     Georgetown’s Casey Carter put down two free throws with 1:12 left on the clock in the opening eight minutes, but Hatten answered with a layup and foul shot for a three-point play, giving L-C a 12-8 lead.

     Carter came back with two more points, but Laney Lewis gave L-C a four-point advantage with a fast break layup off a steal near the end of the first. Brianna Householder made an open layup at the buzzer to make it a one possession game headed in the second quarter.

     After two points by L-C senior Lindsey Hawk at the 7:16 mark of the second quarter, things were never the same for Lynchburg-Clay.

     Neither team shined in the second, putting on passing displays to find the right shot.

     Kristen Grant scored a three-point play with 4:33 left in the first half, followed with more inside points at the 1:43 mark of the same quarter to give the Lady G-Men a 17-16 lead.

     Hatten scored with an assist from Hawk, but with .36 left in the second Jessie Kidwell sank a trifecta to give the Lady G-Men a 20-18 advantage.

     After three quarters Georgetown led 30-23.

     Hatten made inside points with 6:52 remaining in the third, and Lillian Blankenship banked in a 3-pointer with 1:17 left in the quarter to bring the Lady Mustangs within five points of the overall lead.

     The final quarter started the same as the first with Hertlein opening it up in the scoring column to put L-C within five points of tying the game at 30-25.

     Meredith Fittro answered the four-straight points from Georgetown with a bucket of her own, but the Lady G-Men offensive attack couldn’t be held back, as they hit a wide-open layup when Carter went straight to the hoop unopposed.

     The Lady Mustangs were forced to start fouling to preserve time on the clock. In the process the combination of Amanda Jelley and Carter made nine free throws in the final 2:08 of the game.

     Hawk scored the final points of the game.

     Hatten had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. L-C gained a total of 22 boards. Hatten shot 50 percent from the field.

     Carter led all scorers with a game-high 18 points. Carter was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.

     L-C attempted three free throws in the game. Georgetown was 12 of 18.

     “We didn’t turnover the ball much, but our offense was stagnant,” Linda Hatten said. “We just didn’t do a good job of choosing our shots wisely. We didn’t cut hard to the basket.

     “I am proud of the way Cali defended their big girls, but (Carter) hurt us by driving inside.”

     L-C will play again on Monday, Jan. 4 as they host Bethel-Tate.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GHS – 12 8 10 15 – 45

LCHS – 14 4 5 11 – 34

INDIVIDUAL STATS

GHS (45)

Jelley 1 5-9 7, Gast 2 0-1 4, Kidwell 0 (1) 3, Householder 1 2, Carter 6 6-6 18, Lahmer 1 2, Grant 4 1-2 9. TOTALS: 15 (1) 12-18 45.

LCHS (34)

L.Blankenship 1 (1) 5, Fittro 1 2, Lewis 1 2, Hatten 6 1-1 13, Hertlein 2 (1) 7, Hawk 2 1-2 5. TOTALS: 13 (2) 2-3 34.