Lady Mustangs win with defense over Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The new era of Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs basketball got off to a winning start Friday afternoon, with LC defeating the Hillsboro Lady Indians 64-26, at Hillsboro High School in the 6th Annual Highland County Girls Basketball Shootout.
The win was the first for new Lady Mustangs' head coach Tiffany Barnett, who made her varsity coaching debut in the game.
"For myself, it is nice to finally get the first game out of the way," Barnett said. "More than anything, for the girls, it's nice for them to come out and get this game out of the way. They know it is time to worry about this season."
The Lady Mustangs (1-0) dominated the entire contest, especially the early stages, leading 21-6 after the first quarter against their Highland County counterpart, Hillsboro, who are members of the South Central Ohio League.
LC, the reigning champion of the Southern Hills League (Division I), looked like a team that returned all but two members of that championship team in the first quarter, with junior Brooke Hertlein scoring the first points of the Lady Mustangs' season on a layup.
The Lady Mustangs pressured HHS all game, using their pressure-style defense, while making off-balanced passes for a majority of the game, some even from the ground.
"Defensively, the girls were aggressive and that is how I want it to work," Barnett said.
HHS got the score down to 2-1 with a free throw by junior Jessica Donahue. The junior, along with the rest of her Lady Indian teammates, were impressive from the free-throw line, shooting 12-of-19 for 63.1 percent for the game.
"I'm proud of the way we shot from the free-throw line (Friday)," HHS head coach JR Moberly (who made his debut as the Lady Indians' coach) said. "We shot the ball well from the free-throw line."
But it was the first quarter that set the tone and tempo for the entire 32 minutes.
With LC leading 2-1, senior Lillian Blankenship connected from beyond the arc, followed with points from fellow senior Meredith Fittro for a 7-2 lead, In-between the LC buckets, Hillsboro junior Carey Juillerat hit a free throw. LC senior Hannah Blankenship put the Lady Mustangs ahead 13-4 with a 3-pointer, leaving 4:33 left in the quarter.
After two free throws by HHS senior Jenni Willey, LC left their stamp on the game, ending the quarter on a 14-2 run. Scoring in the run by LC were Lillian Blankenship (3-pointer), Hannah Blankenship, Fittro, sophomore Laney Lewis and sophomore Ashley Tenas.
Lillian Blankenship led with a game-high 18 points, going 8-of-16 from the floor.
Three other Lady Mustangs finished in double figures with Lewis scoring 15 (eight rebounds) with a 6-of-10 performance from the floor. Fittro and Hannah Blankenship each had 11.
"Lillan is excellent on defense, but she stepped it up offensively (Friday)," Barnett said. "Laney also stepped up for us and we worked it inside to her."
LC continued to add points in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Indians 13-2 in the final 6:02 of the quarter. For the entire quarter, LC out-scored HHS, 15-4.
Many of the LC points in the second came in transition, with the LC defense pressuring the Lady Indians each time they tried to take the ball up-court. Hannah Blankenship was first to score in the quarter, in transition, but those points were answered by Hillsboro senior Maggie Tamborski.
Following the HHS points, LC dominated, again, with fast break and put back points, along with jumpers and layups by Lewis, Hertlein, Lillian Blankenship, sophomore Emma Setty and Fittro.
During that barrage of points, Lillian Blankenship had numerous steals, and Fittro sank a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in the first half. Setty's points came via a long-range jumper. Hillsboro junior Whitney Earley scored points in the second quarter for HHS.
"We were getting frustrated with their defense, but we have to get players open," Moberly said. "We gave up a lot of points, but when we got in the quarter-court offense we did OK. We lost a lot of points in transition."
Leading 36-10 at the start of the third frame, LC continued to increase their lead with a 16 point quarter. In the 8:00 minute quarter, Fittro made a 3-pointer at the 3:40 mark of the frame, followed with an onslaught by Lewis, as the sophomore post player scored seven straight, increasing the LC lead to 48-14.
HHS (0-1) rallied to score 10 points in the final quarter. Scoring for HHS was senior A.J. Sanders, Willey, senior Brooke Shafer, Donahue and junior Danielle Gillman. Willey led HHS with 10 points.
For LC, they out-scored their opponent 12-10 in the final eight minutes with Hertlein, senior Lisa Rhonemus, Lewis, Lillian Blankenship, Fittro and Tenas all adding to the lead.
In the final frame HHS was 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. For the game, LC was 7-of-20.
"The girls played hard until the end, and that will continue all season," Moberly said. "This group of girls has a lot of character, but we have work to do."
LC will play again on Monday as they travel to face the Huntington Lady Huntsmen. HHS will travel to take on SCOL and cross-county rival McClain, Tuesday in Greenfield. MHS defeated Whiteoak in the first game of the HC Girls Basketball Shootout, 59-22.
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The win was the first for new Lady Mustangs' head coach Tiffany Barnett, who made her varsity coaching debut in the game.
"For myself, it is nice to finally get the first game out of the way," Barnett said. "More than anything, for the girls, it's nice for them to come out and get this game out of the way. They know it is time to worry about this season."
The Lady Mustangs (1-0) dominated the entire contest, especially the early stages, leading 21-6 after the first quarter against their Highland County counterpart, Hillsboro, who are members of the South Central Ohio League.
LC, the reigning champion of the Southern Hills League (Division I), looked like a team that returned all but two members of that championship team in the first quarter, with junior Brooke Hertlein scoring the first points of the Lady Mustangs' season on a layup.
The Lady Mustangs pressured HHS all game, using their pressure-style defense, while making off-balanced passes for a majority of the game, some even from the ground.
"Defensively, the girls were aggressive and that is how I want it to work," Barnett said.
HHS got the score down to 2-1 with a free throw by junior Jessica Donahue. The junior, along with the rest of her Lady Indian teammates, were impressive from the free-throw line, shooting 12-of-19 for 63.1 percent for the game.
"I'm proud of the way we shot from the free-throw line (Friday)," HHS head coach JR Moberly (who made his debut as the Lady Indians' coach) said. "We shot the ball well from the free-throw line."
But it was the first quarter that set the tone and tempo for the entire 32 minutes.
With LC leading 2-1, senior Lillian Blankenship connected from beyond the arc, followed with points from fellow senior Meredith Fittro for a 7-2 lead, In-between the LC buckets, Hillsboro junior Carey Juillerat hit a free throw. LC senior Hannah Blankenship put the Lady Mustangs ahead 13-4 with a 3-pointer, leaving 4:33 left in the quarter.
After two free throws by HHS senior Jenni Willey, LC left their stamp on the game, ending the quarter on a 14-2 run. Scoring in the run by LC were Lillian Blankenship (3-pointer), Hannah Blankenship, Fittro, sophomore Laney Lewis and sophomore Ashley Tenas.
Lillian Blankenship led with a game-high 18 points, going 8-of-16 from the floor.
Three other Lady Mustangs finished in double figures with Lewis scoring 15 (eight rebounds) with a 6-of-10 performance from the floor. Fittro and Hannah Blankenship each had 11.
"Lillan is excellent on defense, but she stepped it up offensively (Friday)," Barnett said. "Laney also stepped up for us and we worked it inside to her."
LC continued to add points in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Indians 13-2 in the final 6:02 of the quarter. For the entire quarter, LC out-scored HHS, 15-4.
Many of the LC points in the second came in transition, with the LC defense pressuring the Lady Indians each time they tried to take the ball up-court. Hannah Blankenship was first to score in the quarter, in transition, but those points were answered by Hillsboro senior Maggie Tamborski.
Following the HHS points, LC dominated, again, with fast break and put back points, along with jumpers and layups by Lewis, Hertlein, Lillian Blankenship, sophomore Emma Setty and Fittro.
During that barrage of points, Lillian Blankenship had numerous steals, and Fittro sank a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in the first half. Setty's points came via a long-range jumper. Hillsboro junior Whitney Earley scored points in the second quarter for HHS.
"We were getting frustrated with their defense, but we have to get players open," Moberly said. "We gave up a lot of points, but when we got in the quarter-court offense we did OK. We lost a lot of points in transition."
Leading 36-10 at the start of the third frame, LC continued to increase their lead with a 16 point quarter. In the 8:00 minute quarter, Fittro made a 3-pointer at the 3:40 mark of the frame, followed with an onslaught by Lewis, as the sophomore post player scored seven straight, increasing the LC lead to 48-14.
HHS (0-1) rallied to score 10 points in the final quarter. Scoring for HHS was senior A.J. Sanders, Willey, senior Brooke Shafer, Donahue and junior Danielle Gillman. Willey led HHS with 10 points.
For LC, they out-scored their opponent 12-10 in the final eight minutes with Hertlein, senior Lisa Rhonemus, Lewis, Lillian Blankenship, Fittro and Tenas all adding to the lead.
In the final frame HHS was 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. For the game, LC was 7-of-20.
"The girls played hard until the end, and that will continue all season," Moberly said. "This group of girls has a lot of character, but we have work to do."
LC will play again on Monday as they travel to face the Huntington Lady Huntsmen. HHS will travel to take on SCOL and cross-county rival McClain, Tuesday in Greenfield. MHS defeated Whiteoak in the first game of the HC Girls Basketball Shootout, 59-22.
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