Lady Mustangs control rival Whiteoak

     DODSONVILLE – After a slow-paced opening quarter, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs produced a strong remaining three quarters, en route to a 58-18 Southern Hills League win over Highland County rival Whiteoak Thursday night.

     The Lady Mustangs’ defense held the Lady ‘Cats to nine points in the first half.

     “I thought we did a nice job defensively,” L-C head coach Linda Hatten said. “We didn’t let Whiteoak get open too often on the outside.”

     The standout offensive performance came from L-C junior Lillian Blankenship. The junior finished with a game-high 18 points, connecting three times from the 3-point line. Blankenship also finished with a game-high five steals.

     WHS scored first with points from Emily Hargett, but a jumper from Blankenship and 3-pointer by Lindsey Hawk put the Lady Mustangs in the lead. Hawk ended the game with nine points and a game-high six assists.

     Whiteoak’s Kristen Seip tied the game at five with a three-point play, but the quarter was ended with back-to-back 3-pointers from Blankenship and Meredith Fittro to give the Lady Mustangs a six-point advantage.

     At the start of the second frame Whiteoak junior Liz Carson connected with a 3-ball, but her points were topped with consecutive baskets by Hawk, Cali Hatten and a 3-pointer from Fittro to expand the Lady Mustangs’ lead to 17-8. Hatten finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Fittro netted seven total points.

     WHS sophomore Jessie Gilliland stopped the run by L-C at the 4:42 mark of the second with a free throw, as that was the last time the Lady ‘Cats scored in the first half.

     L-C dominated the rest of the opening half with points from Hatten, Fittro, Blankenship, Karen Hilt and Laney Lewis to take a 20-point lead into the half at 29-9. Lewis finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, eight points and three blocks.

     In the first half, six points were scored inside the paint by L-C as the remainder of their points were all from outside shots or from the free-throw line.

     In the third quarter, Blankenship started off with inside points and was followed with two free throw conversions from Hawk. The Lady ‘Cats scored for the first time since the 4:42 mark of the second quarter when Carson sank a 3-pointer with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter.

     L-C answered with a 15-0 run with Lewis, Blankenship, Hatten, and Brooke Hertlein all contributing to what turned into a 46-11 advantage for the Lady Mustangs. Hertlein also grabbed eight rebounds against WHS.

     The Lady Mustangs won the final quarter 10-4, as they held WHS to quarters of 5, 4, 5, 4.

     Kari Fannin, Haley Bingamon and Gilliland scored for WHS in the final frame.

     With .43 remaining in the game, Lynchburg-Clay’s Emma Setty connected with inside points.

     For Whiteoak, Carson led with five points. Gilliland netted four points.

     The loss drops WHS to 0-14 overall, 0-10 in the SHL.

     L-C improves to 9-5 overall, 6-2 in the SHL.

     The Lady Mustangs will play again Monday as they host West Union at 6 p.m. WHS will host Felicity on Saturday at 12 p.m.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

WHS – 5 4 5 4 – 18

LCHS – 11 18 19 10 – 58

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LCHS (58)

L.Blankenship 3 (3) 3-4 18, Hilt 1 2, Fittro 2 (1) 7, Lewis 4 0-2 8, Hatten 3 2-2 8, Hertlein 2 4, Hawk 2 (1) 2-2 9, Setty 1 2. TOTALS: 18 (5) 7-10 58.

WHS (18)

Fannin 0 1-2 1, Gilliland 1 2-4 4, Seip 1 1-1 3, Bingamon 0 1-2 1, Carson 1 (1) 5, Smith 1 2, Hargett 1 2. TOTALS: 5 (1) 5-9 18.