The Shadow
The Alleghany Mountaineers (13-4) girls basketball team played spoilers to the James River Knights (6-9) senior night following a 45-24 victory on Thursday evening.
The Mountaineers who were coming off of a 64-26 home loss to the Craig County Rockets on Tuesday, came out looking like a completely different team to open the first quarter in the teams win Thursday.
Kendell Keene, scored six of her game-high 12 points in the first quarter which jump started a 15-0 lead for the Mountaineers as the team held the Knights scoreless in the first quarter.
The Knights seeing their senior night slip away from them came out in the second quarter with a great defensive mind as the team held the Mountaineers to 2-for-16 shooting in the quarter, which allowed the Knights to cut the lead down from 15 points to 12. The Knights were held scoreless the first eight minutes of the game.
In the second half, the Knights carried their second quarter momentum into the third quarter as the scored seven unanswered points to trim the lead down to five points at 19-14.
With just under six minutes left in the third quarter, Keene, knocked down her third three-pointer of the game to push the lead back up to eight points. Keene’s three-pointer proved to be the momentum turning point of the game as the Mountaineers would go on a 16-0 scoring run to take a 38-16 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Knights were held scoreless in the final five minutes of the third quarter.
Macyn Cash, was held to only three points in the game, but her lone points came in a big way during the third quarter. With just over three minutes left, Cash, knocked down a three-pointer that put Mountaineers back up double digits (28-16) for the first time since the start of the quarter.
The Mountaineers in the fourth quarter, extended their scoring run to 19 straight unanswered points following an Averi Phillips three-pointer which gave the team their largest lead of the game at 25 points, 41-16. Phillips, three-pointer, sealed the victory for the team.
In the win, the Mountaineers finished the game with a field goal percentage of 44%, while holding the Knights to 32%. Three-point shooting was a key to the Mountaineers success as the team knocked down seven three pointers compared to the Knights one made three-pointers. The Mountaineers finished with four players making three-pointers.
Caitlin Canada, was the high scored for the Knights. Canada, scored a team-high 11 points to go along with three rebounds and three steals, while Honesty Liming chipped in with four points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Not to be overlooked for her individual performance, Erin Harden, had a well balanced all-around game as she scored four points, five rebounds, a game-high eight assists, and a game-high six steals for the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers hosted Radford last night.
Mountaineers at Knights
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Ttl
AHS 15 4 19 7 45
JRHS 0 7 9 8 24
Mountaineers Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Leitch 4 4 1 2
Cash 3 – 1 3
Fridley 7 8 2 2
Keene 12 – 1 1
Harden 4 5 8 6
Hayslett 2 1 – 2
Phillips 5 3 – 1
Nicely 8 3 – –
Huffman – 1 – –
Knights Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Canada 11 3 – 3
Hester 4 3 2 2
Liming 4 10 1 1
Francis 2 2 – –
Crowder 2 1 – –
Ballard – – – 1
Kessler 1 1 – –
