Wildcats Sink Fort

Samante Hits Winning Three-Pointer In OT

In an intense back-and-forth battle, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team pulled through for a 62-61 home win in overtime over Shenandoah District rival Fort Defiance on Tuesday of last week in Lexington.

Senior guard Natalie Samante hit the winning shot for the Wildcats (5-8 overall, 3-4 district), knocking down a 3-pointer that bounced off the rim and then dropped in the basket with 9.8 seconds left. Samante went 4-of-5 from three-point range, on her way to 14 points, and the Wildcats had their highest scoring total of the season.

“It doesn’t get any bigger than that,” said Plogger of Samante’s game winner. “She put the work in this summer. I’m glad she got to hit that shot because she worked her butt off all summer and all fall. She was in the gym every time we opened the door, so I said, finally, the gods are with us tonight.”

It was a strong shooting night for the Wildcats, going 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field and 50 percent (7of-14) from three-point range. From the free throw line, RC shot 62.5 percent (5-of-8). Fort (4-7, 2-4) shot 39.6 percent (25-of-63) from the field and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from threepoint range while going just 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from the foul line.

The game was a battle for a spot in next month’s Region 3C tournament, which takes 12 teams. As of early last week, the Wildcats were in third place in the region. Plogger said the win was “huge for us. We had to have it… The 50/50 games, we’ve got to get them.”

The Wildcats led for most of the game, racing out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter before Fort ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to cut it to 10-7.

RC maintained a small lead throughout the second quarter, with Samante and Lola Mulitalo leading the offense, and the Wildcats went into halftime up 27-23.

In the third quarter, RC extended its lead to eight, but the Indians battled back to take their first lead of the game, 44-43. Inside shots by Dez Butler and Bella Dorey put the Wildcats up 46-43 at the end of the quarter.

The Wildcats led for most of the fourth quarter before Fort cut their lead to one in the final minute. Butler then made a crisp pass to Mulitalo for an inside basket that put RC up 57-54 with 21.4 seconds left in regulation. Just before the clock expired, Fort’s Peyton Simmons hit a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, Samante hit a jump shot to put RC up by two, but another 3-pointer by Simmons gave Fort a 60-59 lead with just over a minute left. After an RC turnover, the Wildcats fouled Nora Knicley, who hit her first free throw attempt. She missed the second attempt, and Mulitalo grabbed the rebound before the Wildcats set up Samante for the winning shot. The Indians did not get another decent shot off.

Mulitalo led RC with 22 points and 11 rebounds and had two steals. Also stepping up was Butler with 10 points, five assists, six rebounds and four steals, while Genesis McCoy added five points, and Dorey and Madison Mangione each chipped in four points. Dorey led RC with six assists, while Mangione pulled down eight rebounds.

Caroline Hanger paced Fort with 21 points, while Simmons scored 16 points, and Harper Carter chipped in eight. Plogger said the Wildcats tried to focus on stopping Hanger and Simmons. Hanger has been “tearing it up,” and Simmons “hadn’t shot the ball like that all year,” he said.

Another key to the win was reducing turnovers in the second half, Plogger said. The Wildcats committed 19 turnovers, 12 in the first half but just seven in the second half. The Indians committed 17 turnovers in the game.

The Wildcats were scheduled to visit Alleghany last night and will continue district action on Thursday at 6 p.m. On Saturday, in the first game of the second day of the Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout, the Wildcats will play host to Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy at 11 a.m. RC will return to district action at home against Waynesboro on Tuesday at 6 p.m.