Tough L-C defense blocks Lady Warriors

     DODSONVILLE – The Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs perfected their game plan and defeated rival Eastern Brown 31-22 Monday evening in Southern Hills League action.

     The L-C game plan was to switch defenses, keep EB scorers from scoring and defeat a team that beat them earlier this season.

     Mission accomplished.

     “My players of the game were my whole team,” Lynchburg-Clay head coach Linda Hatten said. “They executed the game plan to a tee. The girls executed on defense and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

     The defense went from the usual man-to-man and morphed into a 2-3 zone defense which held the six-win Lady Warriors in single digit scoring for four straight quarters.

     The zone defense held EB to quarters of 8, 6, 6 and 2.

     “The first time we played Eastern it was with the man defense and we kept up with them for three quarters, but (Monday) we stayed in the game for four quarters with the zone. When I looked at the game film I told the girls we were going to play a 2-3 zone and they (EB) weren’t going to beat us on the inside.”

     Freshman Laney Lewis, in her first start, led the Lady Mustangs on the boards with 13 rebounds, with nine coming on the defensive side. Lewis also netted six points.

     At one point in the first quarter, Lewis kept the ball alive as she had four rebounds in a row, all on the same trip down the court.

     The Lady Mustangs (4-1, 7-3) led 9-8 after the first quarter, as scoring was scarce in the game.

     Eastern’s Shayla Black started the game with a 3-pointer, with the first bucket coming at the 5:39 mark of the first quarter.

     Seniors Lindsey Hawk and Hatten put L-C ahead 4-3 with Hawk making a jumper and Hatten knocking down two free throws. Hawk led all scorers with nine points.

     Hawk tied the game at five and Lewis put the Lady Mustangs in the lead at 7-5, and then ended the quarter by regaining the L-C lead at 9-8.

     Hatten (who finished with six points) and Hawk scored the first three points of the second quarter, followed with a free throw from junior Lillian Blankenship.

     The defense of the Lady Mustangs held the Lady Warriors scoreless from the 1:52 mark of the first until the 2:31 mark of the second quarter when Nicolette Clifton sank a 3-ball for EB.

     Hatten and Blankenship gave L-C a 17-14 lead at the half by netting the final four points of the first half.

     Eight points were scored between both teams in the third quarter with EB finishing the quarter leading 20-19.

     In the third, L-C sophomore Brooke Hertlein scored first with a jumper, as those were the only points for L-C in the eight minute span. EB scored with buckets from Christian Burns, Emily Tatman and Rachel Mullins.

     L-C dominated the scoring column in the final quarter by outscoring the Lady Warriors 12-2 to seal the win.

     Hawk sank a 3-pointer to start the fourth, followed with trey from Hertlein at the 5:11 mark of the quarter for a 25-20 advantage. Hawk’s 3-ball put L-C in the lead for good.

     Hawk reached the scoreboard again with a two-point basket. Her points were followed with two free throws from Blankenship and two connections from the foul line by Lewis. Blankenship led L-C in steals with four.

     For the game L-C shot 10 of 27 overall (37 percent), 2 of 7 in 3-point attempts. EB was 9 of 43 from the field overall at 20.9 percent, 3 of 23 in 3-point shooting.

     The loss is the Lady Warriors’ third straight, dropping them to 6-4 overall, 3-2 in the SHL. L-C stands at 7-3 overall, 4-1 in league play.

     Another factor of the game the L-C head coach was proud of was the way her team accepted their roles before the game.

     “Two of my players who usually play a lot of minutes or start (Hannah Blankenship and Meredith Fittro) didn’t play much this game and that was part of the game plan. I told them what we needed them to do, they accepted it and cheered on their teammates. That showed the character of those two girls and the character of this team,” Hatten said. “We went with the big lineup with our three tall girls. They all played well and did what we asked of them.”

     The Lady Mustangs will take the court again Thursday as they host first-place and SHL undefeated North Adams with JV starting at 6 p.m.

     In JV play Monday night Eastern defeated the Lady Mustangs 37-21. Karen Hilt led L-C with 10 points. Ashley Tenas followed with eight points and Emma Setty scored two points for L-C.

     Lauren Ballou led EB with eight points. Andra Tracy scored seven in the JV win over L-C.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

EBHS – 8 6 6 2 – 22

LCHS – 9 8 2 12 – 31

INDIVIDUAL STATS

LCHS (31)

L.Blankenship 1 3-4 5, L.Lewis 2 2-3 6, C.Hatten 2 2-2 6, B.Hertlein 1 (1) 5, L.Hawk 2 (1) 2-4 9. TOTALS: 8 (2) 9-13 31.

EBHS (22)

S.Black 0 (1) N.Clifton 0 (1) 3, R.Mullins 2 4, M.Scott 0 (1) 3, C.Burns 3 0-1 6, E.Tatman 1 1-3 3. TOTALS: 6 (3) 1-4 22.