The Shadow
It was about two weeks ago, the Alleghany Mountaineers (9-1) girls basketball team only scored two points in the first quarter and rallied from 19 points down in the second quarter to go on and beat the Staunton Storm 58-50.
On Monday evening, the Mountaineers, led by Averi Phillips team-high 13 points, the team made sure that did not happen again as they went on to defeat the Storm by the final score of 48-33 and continued their winning streak to eight games.
However, in the second quarter of last nights game, it felt as if there was going to be another rally, but with the roles reversed.
After the Storm opened the game with a three-pointer from, Emma Witt, the Mountaineers went on a 15-0 scoring run, which was highlighted by two three-pointers from Kendell Keene.
During the scoring run, Macyn Cash, helped assist on four of the baskets made. Cash finished with five assists for the game.
The Storm ended their scoring drought at four minutes after Witt made a difficult layup to end the Mountaineers scoring run.
Just before the quarters end, Phillips made her fourth shot of the quarter and finished the quarter with nine points. The Mountaineers led 22-8 heading into the second quarter.
And that’s where things got interesting.
The Mountaineers in their comeback against the Storm on December 28th, chipped away at their deficit over the course of the game and did not lead until the fourth quarter.
The Storm to open the second quarter, used a 10-0 scoring run to get within four points at 22-18.
Prior to their 10th point of the quarter, the Storm who at the time, had an 8-0 scoring run going, Mountaineers head coach Jeff Wolfe, needed a timeout to regroup his team.
Both of these teams saw this similar scene almost two weeks ago.
The Mountaineers, did not get on the scoreboard if the second quarter until three minutes and 42 seconds into it.
The Storm had a chance after a Mountaineer turnover to continue their scoring run, however, Cash, had other plans and stripped the ball away from Samantha Swift, and passed the ball to Phillips, who found Cash open for the easy layup. The Mountaineers took a 24-18 lead.
Follow Cash’s basket, the Storm got within three points at 24-21 after Witt made a tough basket while drawing the foul. Witt, finished the three-point play off by making her free throw.
The Mountaineers then started to settle down and made three straight baskets to go on a 7-0 run to take a 31-21 lead.
The team went into the half with an eight point lead on the Storm, 31-23.
As the Mountaineers settled down, you could sense, there was going to be no comeback Monday evening.
After a rough start to the third quarter from both teams, Phillips and Keene connected on back to back baskets to put the Mountaineers ahead at 41-27 in the closing minute of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, despite a few attempts by the Storm to make a rally, the Mountaineers, ultimately controlled the tempo and finished off the Storm when Cash made a layup with just over a minute left to put the team in front 47-33.
Bryce Leitch, was a big lift to her team, especially during times when the Mountaineers were struggling. Leitch, finished the game with three points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Leitch, hit a big three-pointer in the second quarter during the Mountaineers 7-0 scoring run that put them ahead 31-21.
Keene, finished the game second in scoring for the Mountaineers with a 12-point performance, including her two first quarter three-pointers. Keene, also had two rebounds and one assist.
The Mountaineers grabbed a big lift in rebounding column thanks to Abbie Fridley, who finished with a game-high nine rebounds. As a team, the Mountaineers, outrebounded the Storm 25-17.
A play in the game that won’t reach the statistics book came in the fourth quarter with the Mountaineers leading 45-33 with just under two minutes left. Swift, drove to the hoop and made a layup while making contact with Erin Harden. The referee, then signaled for an offensive foul. Had it been a blocking foul and Swift finished off the three-point play, the Storm would of been with single digits with plenty of time left in the game, especially after the way the team opened the second quarter. Harden had the play of the game with her forced offensive foul.
In the loss, Witt, finished the game with a game-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds, one assist, and four steals. Meanwhile, Kellsye Miller, finished the game second in scoring with 12 points to go along with five steals, one assist, and one rebound, while Kourtlyn Stewart, finished with a team high seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Despite the loss for the Storm, the team won the steals category 16-9.
The Mountaineers, who have now won eight in a row, are back on the basketball court tomorrow when the team travels to play at Floyd County.
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Ttl
AHS 22 9 10 7 48
SHS 8 15 4 6 33
Mountaineers Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Cash 9 3 5 4
Harden 3 1 2 1
Keene 12 2 1 /
Phillips 13 3 1 /
Fridley 5 9 4 2
Nicely 1 2 / /
Leitch 3 3 4 2
Hayslett 2 2 / /
Storm’s Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Miller 12 1 1 5
Stewart / 7 3 3
Witt 19 5 1 4
Lotts / 1 2 /
Swift 2 2 / 4
Hicks / 1 / /
Henson (Min. Played)
