Plagued by turnovers, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team suffered a 56-22 road loss to Turner Ashby on Monday of last week in Bridgewater.
In the nondistrict early-afternoon game, the Wildcats (2-5) committed 29 turnovers, while the Knights (7-1) had just 11. RC head coach Darrell Plogger noted that the Wildcats had seven turnovers before they even took a shot. “We’re not fundamentally sound,” said Plogger, following the Wildcats’ lowest scoring total of the season.
The Knights jumped out to a 13-6 lead after the first quarter and extended their lead to 25-9 by halftime. TA’s most dominant period was the third quarter, outscoring RC 22-5 to stretch its lead to 4714, putting the game out of reach.
Senior forward Lola Mulitalo produced almost all of the Wildcats’ offense, scoring 18 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Mulitalo also dished out one assist and had a steal. When the Wildcats reached 18 points, Mulitalo had scored all of them. In the fourth quarter, Genesis McCoy and Kyra Strowbridge each chipped in two points for the Wildcats. Dez Butler had a solid defense game for RC, pulling down five defensive rebounds and making one steal. Teammate Bella Dorey had two steals, two rebounds and one assist.
Plogger said TA point guard Alyse Sheffey, who transferred from Harrisonburg and scored 16 points last Monday, “was the difference maker” for the Knights.
TA shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the field and 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the free throw line, while RC shot 39.4 percent (9of-24) from the field and just 50 percent (4-of-8) from the free throw line. The Knights made two 3-pointers, while the Wildcats didn’t attempt any threes.
The Wildcats practiced over winter break and focused on finding ways to reduce turnovers, Plogger said.
RC was scheduled to play host to local rival Parry McCluer on Monday. For a summary of the game, visit www.thnews-gazette. com, and see next week’s newspaper for the full story and photos. The Wildcats will start the new year with a rematch at home against TA on Friday at 12:30 p.m. They’ll then visit PM in Buena Vista on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m. RC, which is 2-2 in the Shenandoah District, will return to district action on Tuesday with a home game at 6 p.m. against Wilson Memorial.
