After falling to the James Monroe Mavericks in the championship game of the 2022 Boo Boo Whitehead varsity basketball Christmas Tournament this past weekend, the Alleghany Mountaineers (4-2) bounced back on Monday by defeating the visiting Rockbridge County Wildcats (0-7) 70-62.
It was nearly a year ago that the Mountaineers battled back from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat the Wildcats at Mountaineer Arena 65-58 when the team outscored the Wildcats 26-10 in the final quarter.
On Monday, despite coming into the game winless with an 0-6 record, the Wildcats fought hard and gave the Mountaineers all they could, but it was the Mountaineers who once again prevailed victorious in what was the 62nd meeting between both programs.
The Mountaineers only had two players in double figures, but grabbed a collection of solid performances from their team. Xzavier Hayslett led the way with a game-high 21 points, while Davien Moore added 10. In January’s meeting, Halen Lowman had dropped in a career-high 26 points including five three-pointers as he sparked the Mountaineer comeback by scoring 16 of the teams 26 fourth quarter points. On Monday, Lowman had another solid overall game with an eight-point, nine-rebound performance.
In the loss, the Wildcats were led by Henry Lambert who scored a team-high 18 points, while Brandon Mays scored 16.
The Mountaineers JV team improved to 5-1 on the season following a 58-35 win.
The Mountaineers remain home on Thursday as the team hosts Fort Defiance in a non-district meeting.
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