The Shadow
HOT SPRINGS – Second chance opportunities and a stingy zone defense proved to be the difference maker for the Alleghany girls basketball team Saturday as they knocked off the Bath County Chargers, 43-41.
The Lady Mounties outrebounded the Chargers, 47-39, with 20 of those boards coming on the offensive end.
Both teams struggled from the field with Alleghany hitting 26 percent (14 for 53) of their shots, while the Chargers shot just 18 percent (12 for 65) from the floor.
The game got off to a sloppy start with both teams combining for 24 turnovers.
“We gave up too many second chance opportunities,” said Bath County coach Keith Lindsay. “We didn’t hit our outside shots and we lost site of No. 14 (Esther Allman) a couple of times and she made us pay. She’s a good player.
“We just looked out of sync today and we missed a lot of easy shots,” added Lindsay. “You can’t do that and expect to win.”
Allison Sharp’s steal-and-layup gave Bath County an early 4-0 lead, but Allman pulled the Mountaineers to within one (4-3) with a trey from the top of the key.
Bath County led 6-3 following Sharp’s dish to Shonique Gardener but Kasey McAllister knotted the game at six after converting a three-point play with 1:47 remaining in the opening quarter.
Shasta Riley’s perimeter jumper gave Bath County an 8-6 lead with 1:18 on the clock, but Allman dished to Rose for a breakaway layup with 12 seconds left to knot the game at eight after one quarter of play.
Sharp converted one-of-two at the charity stripe to give BC a 13-10 lead with 6:09 left in the first half. Allisha Ayers’ stickback coupled with Kirsten Burton’s stickback put the Mountaineers on top 14-13, but the Chargers took a 17-14 lead following Hannah Robertson’s dish to Sharp.
The game was knotted at 18 with 1:50 left in the half, but two Allman free throws and Paige Irvine’s stickback gave AHS a 22-18 lead with 51 seconds left.
Alleghany led 22-20 before Irvine knocked down a pair at the line with 28 seconds remaining to give the Mountaineers a 24-20 lead at the half.
Alleghany made seven of nine free throws in the first half and committed 19 turnovers, while Bath County was just eight of 17 from the free throw line and turned the ball over 14 times. AHS held a 26-17 rebounding advantage through two quarters.
A pair of Gardener free throws with 4:31 left in the third quarter gave Bath County a 29-28 lead, but Allman knotted the game at 29 after hitting one-of-two at the free throw line.
Bath took a 35-31 lead following Jailyn Ford’s stickback and led 37-33 after Angela Herscher knocked down a pair at the line, but Allman stroked her second three-ball of the game with 39 seconds left in the quarter to make the score 37-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sharp’s trey from the wing gave the Lady Chargers a 40-38 lead with 6:55 remaining, but Ayers knotted the game with an easy layup. The game was tied 41-41 with 2:12 to play, but Burton hit one-of-two at the line to give AHS a 42-41 lead with 1:36 on the clock.
Grace Parker made one-of-two free throws with 53 seconds to go to give the Lady Mountaineers a 43-41 lead. Allman had a chance with 12 seconds to play to seal the win at the line but missed both free throw attempts.
The Lady Chargers had a chance to tie, but Riley’s baseline jumper went long and Ford’s stickback rimmed out at the buzzer and the Lady Mountaineers held on for the 43-41 non-district win.
“This is a big win for us being that we played two games within 24 hours,” said Alleghany coach Danny Keene, referring to Friday night’s game at Northside and making the turnaround trip for an afternoon game with the Chargers. “The girls have been practicing hard and the deserved this.
“Esther had a big game for us, but I thought Allisha (Ayers) and Grace (Parker) did a really good job for us inside,” added Keene. “We got a lot of second chance opportunities and we took advantage of that.”
Allman paced the Mountaineers with 15 points and added seven boards.
Rose added six points and Ayers finished with five points and nine rebounds.
Sharp led all scorers with 16 points and had six steals. Gardener finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Ford led all rebounders with 14 boards.
Alleghany (2-8, 0-1) will be back in action Tuesday when they host Lord Botetourt for a Blue Ridge District matchup.
Bath County (6-3, 1-0) will be back in action Tuesday with a big Pioneer District game at James River.
Alleghany made it a sweep with a 44-17 win in the preliminary.
Kristian Wiseman led AHS with 11 points, while Kayla Buchanan added six. Tori Arritt finished with five, while Analea Deeds, Sara Church and Cortnie Walton added four each.
Catherine Fornwalt, Emilee Loope, Katura Cosby, Emily Timbrook and Tiffany White rounded out the Mountaineers’ scoring with two points each.
Taylor Grubbs and Mikala Colaw led Bath County with seven points each, while Mikayla Miller rounded out the scoring with three points.
