The Shadow
It may have taken them a few minutes to get settled in, but, once the Alleghany Mountaineers got used to the surroundings at Clifton Middle School, they found their temporary digs to be to their liking.
Forced to play Friday’s scheduled home game against Parry McCluer at CMS due to ongoing construction at Alleghany High School, the Mountaineers shook off a sluggish start to garner a 59-26 win over the Fighting Blues.
“We thank the administration of Clifton Middle School for graciously offering their facility for our athletes to use,” said Alleghany principal Fred Vaughn. “Mrs. Siple, Mr. Craft, and the entire staff were very helpful.”
The Mountaineers found themselves trailing, 7-2, midway through the opening period, but, fortunately, that deficit would be short lived.
At the 4:13 mark, India Green handed out her first of several assists when she found Mauri Deeds open from behind the arc.
Deeds’ basket ignited a 22-2 Mountaineer run, bridging the first and second quarters, that put Alleghany in front, 24-9, midway through the second period.
By halftime, that lead had grown to twenty-three points, 38-15.
“As a coach, anytime that you have a long break, such as we did for the holidays, you wonder how the players will respond,” commented Alleghany coach Danny Keene. “It took a couple of minutes for us to get going, but, once we did, the girls showed no letdown from the effort they gave last Saturday (against Greenbrier East). That’s a good sign that we are going to keep growing and building from here.”
In fact, if statistics are any indication, Keene may want to see if his squad can play future home games at CMS. The Mountaineers turned in one of their best all-around shooting performances in recent memory on the CMS Falcons’ home court.
Alleghany (7-3, 1-0) shot 43 percent (22 of 51) from the field, 50 percent (4 of 8) from long distance, and 79 percent (11 of 14) from the charity stripe.
Green, Savannah Beard, and Latisha Chambers led a balanced Mountaineer scoring attack with 9 points each. Chambers spearheaded Alleghany’s rebounding effort, collecting 8 boards.
In the opener, the Alleghany jayvees ran their record to 9-1 on the season with a 47-17 victory over the Fighting Blues. The Mountaineers led, 13-2, after one, and increased that margin to 23-3 at intermission.
Rachel Hepler led Alleghany with 12 points and 6 rebounds, Kaleigh Entsminger scored 9 points and grabbed 6 misses, Breanna Tingler tallied 6 points, Cortney Via and Addy Honaker notched 5 apiece, Taylor Poague and Allison Fox posted 4 each, and Casey Burgess added 2.
Fox led the Mountaineers with 7 rebounds.
Carrington Balser scored 7 for Parry McCluer.
