Despite battling one of the top teams in Region 3C for three quarters, the Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team came up short 56-38 against Turner Ashby on Friday afternoon in Lexington.
The Wildcats (3-6), who had suffered a 72-37 road loss to TA (10-1) on Dec. 22 in Bridgewater, gave the Knights all that they could handle through most of the rematch.
TA jumped out to an 11-3 lead, but the Wildcats responded with a 9-0 run to take a 12-11 lead. At the end of the first quarter, Bradi Ziegler made a pair of free throws to put RC up 16-14.
The game remained close in the second quarter, but the Knights went up by six points in the final minute of the first half before RC’s Brayden Camden was fouled on a 3-point shot and made all three free throws to cut TA’s lead to 27-24 by halftime.
The Wildcats took back the lead in the third quarter, going up 33-30 on a basket by Ziegler and a pair of free throws, but TA’s Colton Jennings then made a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run by the Knights. At the end of the quarter, TA led 39-34.
The Knights pulled away in the fourth quarter by hitting five 3-pointers and shutting down the Wildcats, outscoring RC 17-4.
Ziegler led the Wildcats with 16 points, hitting two 3-pointers, while Camden scored 10 points, and Christian Moore chipped in five.
Anthony Perez paced TA with 16 points, while Harper Kauffman scored 15 points on five 3-pointers, Jayden Lacy added 10 points, and Jennings chipped in seven, all in the third quarter.
TA hit eight 3-pointers in the game, while RC made four.
The Wildcats, who fell to Parry McCluer 71-38 at home on Monday, will have a rematch at PM (4-2) on Saturday. The day will start with the junior varsity boys’ game at 2:30 p.m., with the girls’ varsity game scheduled to follow at 4, before concluding with the varsity boys’ game, slated for 5:30.
For the full stories on this week’s action, with photos from the local rivalry games, please see our Jan. 7 newspaper.
