The Shadow
The Alleghany Mountaineer girls have a notch in the win column.
Esther Allman scored 12 points, while Mindy Gillispie added 10, and the Mountaineers capitalized on a six-point trip down the floor in the fourth quarter to defeat James River Monday night, 39-33.
With the win, the Mountaineers improved to 1-2 on the season.
Tied at 27, Gillispie scored on the inside at the 2:12 mark of the fourth quarter and was fouled. On the play, a James River player was whistled for a technical foul.
Gillispie missed the ensuing free throw, but Allman calmly drilled the two technical foul shots, increasing the Alleghany lead to 31-27. After Allman’s two free throws, the ball was given back to the Mountaineers, who made the most of their additional opportunity.
Gillispie scored again, increasing the Alleghany lead to 33-27.
The cushion reached as much as nine in the final minute. Two Mariana Keener free throws with 44.5 seconds increased the Alleghany lead to 39-30.
“It feels good to get a win,” said Alleghany assistant coach Katie Yohn. “I think the girls needed that to get them started.”
Alleghany ended the first half with a 12-0 run to take a 20-10 lead at intermission.
Allman was 3-for-3 from the floor with seven points in the first half, while Gillispie added six points in the second quarter.
Gillispie started the Alleghany run with a free throw, and a Grace Parker bucket ended the first half scoring, giving the Mountaineers a 10-point lead at the half.
Allman opened the second-half scoring with a layup that increased the Alleghany lead to 22-10, but the Knights upped the pressure and started to cut into their deficit.
By the end of the third quarter, the Knights had whittled the Alleghany lead to 25-23, and they got it back to even at 25-25 on a Morgan Hufford layup early in the fourth quarter.
A Cheyenne Falls free throw gave the Knights a 26-25 lead at the 4:37 mark of the final quarter, but Kristen Rose drilled a pair from the charity strip to give the Mountaineers a 27-26 lead.
Hufford hit a free throw to again draw the Knights even at 27-all, setting the stage for Alleghany’s six-point run.
“We struggled in the third quarter,” said Yohn, alluding to the James River pressure. “It’s just tough to get practice time with all the games we’ve been playing.”
Falls led the Knights with nine points, while Chelsea Rodriguez added seven.
In Monday’s opener, the Mountaineers turned in what coach Mark Keith termed “a total team effort,” as they dispatched the Knights, 46-28.
Analea Deeds led the Mountaineers with nine points, while Katura Cosby added seven, and Kayla Buchanan scored six.
Catherine Fornwalt and Samantha Fridley scored five each, while Kristian Wiseman, Emilee Loope and Cortnie Walton had four apiece for the Mountaineers, who improved to 3-0 on the season.
The Mountaineers led at the half, 15-8.
Alleghany is back in action Wednesday when they host Covington.
