Lady Mustangs win tournament opener
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LUCASVILLE — Opening quarter jitters weren't enough to slow down the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs in the SE District Division III Sectional Semifinal on Wednesday. In fact, LC cruised to victory, defeating the Northwest Lady Mohawks, 49-27 at Valley High School.
In the first few minutes of the game, LC struggled with making shots, as they didn't score off their first six possessions … that didn't last long. After trailing for less than two minutes, LC outscored the Lady Mohawks 15-4 in the first quarter, and from there they never looked back.
"The first half in general, we didn't take care of the ball very well," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We had 11 turnovers in the half, and they played us in a zone, so I was a little unhappy with that. We weren't pushing the ball, they weren't pressuring us and we still weren't taking care of it.
"I don't know what was going on, but we fixed that and came out in the second half, picked up the intensity level a little bit. We only had three turnovers in the second half, so we took care of the ball much better, which I was pleased with that."
LC junior Laney Lewis led all scorers with a game-high 15 points (11 rebounds), going 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. She was followed by senior Karen Hilt with 11 points, who made two 3-pointers.
In total, eight Lady Mustangs scored points, including senior Brooke Hertlein with nine points (12 rebounds), followed by freshman Madysyn Creighton with five points, and freshman Ginny Gadzinski with three points.
"The first half, Laney was real aggressive to the basket. She was looking to score, and Karen hit a couple big shots for us in the first half. Karen's defense helped us with the intensity level … she pressured the ball a lot, and on the defensive end she really stepped up for us and led the game for us.
"Brooke is going to be Brooke. She's consistent every game. She might not have scored the most points, but her presence on the floor makes all the difference for us and helped us get a win tonight."
The win lifts LC to an overall record of 16-5.
Scoring two points each were sophomore Sarah Spidel, sophomore Sarah Rosselott and junior Ashley Tenas.
In the aforementioned first frame, after two free throws by Lewis, Hilt came back down the court, putting LC ahead 5-2 with a 3-pointer, and from there on the Lady Mustangs never trailed for the remainder of the game.
Following the trey by Hilt, Lewis scored three points with a layup and free throw, but that was answered with two free throws by Northwest's Payton Gubernath with 3:19 left in the quarter.
LC ended the first with seven straight points, coming via 3-pointer by Hertlein, two free throws by Lewis and a jumper with five seconds on the clock by Hilt.
What was a 7-0 run to end the first, spilled into a 12-0 run in the second, with Hilt leading off the quarter with a 3-pointer and Lewis scoring with put-back points, leading 5:46 on the clock with a 20-4 lead.
[[In-content Ad]]From the 5:30 mark of the second until the half, the Lady Mohawks outscored LC 9-5, as LC barely won the second at 10-9. When all was finished with the first half, LC built a 12-point lead at 25-13.
The third frame went much more smoothly for the Lady Mustangs, outscoring NW 12-3, with points from Creighton, Lewis, Rosselott and Hertlein.
LC began the third with five straight points, three from Creighton and two by Hertlein. NW interrupted the run with a three-point play by Vastine with 4:10 left in the quarter. LC ended the third with a 7-0 run and a lead of 37-16.
In the fourth, LC cleared the benches, playing all members of the team, and even then LC outscored NW 12-11. Gadzinski opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, giving LC a 40-16 lead, and from there the remainder of the LC points came from Spidel, Lewis, Hertlein and Tenas.
The win advances LC to the sectional final game on Saturday, Feb. 18, starting at 2:45 p.m. at VHS. They will play Portsmouth West, who defeated West Union 71-42 on Wednesday.
"We hadn't played in a whole week … which has been the longest we've been off probably all season," Lewis said. "We have a couple days to get ready for Saturday, so hopefully we'll be ready. We played a great second half in terms of taking care of the basketball, played pretty good on the defensive end, and that's what's going to carry us on Saturday.
"We're going to be ready to go and take it one game at a time."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
NW 04 09 03 11 — 27
LC 15 10 12 12 — 49
INDIVIDUAL STATS
LC (49)
G.Gadzinski 0 (1) 0-0 3
K.Hilt 2 (2) 1-2 11
M.Creighton 2 (0) 1-2 5
S.Spidel 0 (0) 2-2 2
L.Lewis 4 (0) 7-11 15
S.Rosselott 1 (0) 0-0 2
B.Hertlein 2 (1) 2-4 9
A.Tenas 0 (0) 2-2 2
TOTALS: 11 (4) 15-23 49
NWHS (27)
H.Vastine 1 (0) 1-1 3
A.Riley 1 (0) 1-2 3
A.Montavon 1 (0) 0-0 2
P.Simon 0 (0) 1-2 1
M.Kidder 0 (1) 0-0 3
De.Jenkins 3 (0) 0-0 6
Da.Jenkins 1 (0) 3-3 5
P.Gubernath 1 (0) 2-4 4
TOTALS: 8 (1) 8-12 27
In the first few minutes of the game, LC struggled with making shots, as they didn't score off their first six possessions … that didn't last long. After trailing for less than two minutes, LC outscored the Lady Mohawks 15-4 in the first quarter, and from there they never looked back.
"The first half in general, we didn't take care of the ball very well," LC head coach Whitney Lewis said. "We had 11 turnovers in the half, and they played us in a zone, so I was a little unhappy with that. We weren't pushing the ball, they weren't pressuring us and we still weren't taking care of it.
"I don't know what was going on, but we fixed that and came out in the second half, picked up the intensity level a little bit. We only had three turnovers in the second half, so we took care of the ball much better, which I was pleased with that."
LC junior Laney Lewis led all scorers with a game-high 15 points (11 rebounds), going 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. She was followed by senior Karen Hilt with 11 points, who made two 3-pointers.
In total, eight Lady Mustangs scored points, including senior Brooke Hertlein with nine points (12 rebounds), followed by freshman Madysyn Creighton with five points, and freshman Ginny Gadzinski with three points.
"The first half, Laney was real aggressive to the basket. She was looking to score, and Karen hit a couple big shots for us in the first half. Karen's defense helped us with the intensity level … she pressured the ball a lot, and on the defensive end she really stepped up for us and led the game for us.
"Brooke is going to be Brooke. She's consistent every game. She might not have scored the most points, but her presence on the floor makes all the difference for us and helped us get a win tonight."
The win lifts LC to an overall record of 16-5.
Scoring two points each were sophomore Sarah Spidel, sophomore Sarah Rosselott and junior Ashley Tenas.
In the aforementioned first frame, after two free throws by Lewis, Hilt came back down the court, putting LC ahead 5-2 with a 3-pointer, and from there on the Lady Mustangs never trailed for the remainder of the game.
Following the trey by Hilt, Lewis scored three points with a layup and free throw, but that was answered with two free throws by Northwest's Payton Gubernath with 3:19 left in the quarter.
LC ended the first with seven straight points, coming via 3-pointer by Hertlein, two free throws by Lewis and a jumper with five seconds on the clock by Hilt.
What was a 7-0 run to end the first, spilled into a 12-0 run in the second, with Hilt leading off the quarter with a 3-pointer and Lewis scoring with put-back points, leading 5:46 on the clock with a 20-4 lead.
[[In-content Ad]]From the 5:30 mark of the second until the half, the Lady Mohawks outscored LC 9-5, as LC barely won the second at 10-9. When all was finished with the first half, LC built a 12-point lead at 25-13.
The third frame went much more smoothly for the Lady Mustangs, outscoring NW 12-3, with points from Creighton, Lewis, Rosselott and Hertlein.
LC began the third with five straight points, three from Creighton and two by Hertlein. NW interrupted the run with a three-point play by Vastine with 4:10 left in the quarter. LC ended the third with a 7-0 run and a lead of 37-16.
In the fourth, LC cleared the benches, playing all members of the team, and even then LC outscored NW 12-11. Gadzinski opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, giving LC a 40-16 lead, and from there the remainder of the LC points came from Spidel, Lewis, Hertlein and Tenas.
The win advances LC to the sectional final game on Saturday, Feb. 18, starting at 2:45 p.m. at VHS. They will play Portsmouth West, who defeated West Union 71-42 on Wednesday.
"We hadn't played in a whole week … which has been the longest we've been off probably all season," Lewis said. "We have a couple days to get ready for Saturday, so hopefully we'll be ready. We played a great second half in terms of taking care of the basketball, played pretty good on the defensive end, and that's what's going to carry us on Saturday.
"We're going to be ready to go and take it one game at a time."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
NW 04 09 03 11 — 27
LC 15 10 12 12 — 49
INDIVIDUAL STATS
LC (49)
G.Gadzinski 0 (1) 0-0 3
K.Hilt 2 (2) 1-2 11
M.Creighton 2 (0) 1-2 5
S.Spidel 0 (0) 2-2 2
L.Lewis 4 (0) 7-11 15
S.Rosselott 1 (0) 0-0 2
B.Hertlein 2 (1) 2-4 9
A.Tenas 0 (0) 2-2 2
TOTALS: 11 (4) 15-23 49
NWHS (27)
H.Vastine 1 (0) 1-1 3
A.Riley 1 (0) 1-2 3
A.Montavon 1 (0) 0-0 2
P.Simon 0 (0) 1-2 1
M.Kidder 0 (1) 0-0 3
De.Jenkins 3 (0) 0-0 6
Da.Jenkins 1 (0) 3-3 5
P.Gubernath 1 (0) 2-4 4
TOTALS: 8 (1) 8-12 27