Plagued by 23 turnovers and a cold shooting night, the Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team suffered a 52-34 home loss to Shenandoah District rival Alleghany in the final game of the regular season on Wednesday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats (9-15 overall, 7-9 district), who will wait to see if they advance to the Region 3C tournament next week, shot just 33.3 percent (13-of-39) from the field and 1-of-11 from three-point range. Alleghany (3-20, 2-14) hit eight 3-pointers and committed 12 turnovers.
With the victory, the Cougars avenged a 40-33 loss to RC on Jan. 20 in Covington. Alleghany was coming off a 48-22 road win over district rival Buffalo Gap on Tuesday night. Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Cougars had lost 14 consecutive games.
In the rematch with the Wildcats, Alleghany took a 7-4 lead after the first quarter and outscored RC 16-12 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 23-16 advantage. The Cougars extended their lead to 38-26 by the end of the third quarter and stayed comfortably ahead for the rest of the game.
Before the game, the Wildcats honored their four seniors: Brooklyn Beverly, Bella Dorey, Lola Mulitalo and Natalie Samante. Mulitalo led RC with 13 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Samante scored seven points and grabbed three boards and two steals, while Dorey chipped in six points while leading RC with three assists and pulling down nine rebounds. Beverly scored two points and grabbed three rebounds.
Ja’Kara Heighter and Ty’Aieja Smith scored 12 points each to pace the Cougars. Heighter led Alleghany with eight steals and dished out three assists, while Smith grabbed four rebounds and four steals.
The Wildcats earned the 11th seed in the Region 3C tournament and will play at sixth-seeded East Rockingham (16-5) on Friday at 6 p.m.
For the full story and photos from the game against Alleghany, as well as the story on Friday’s game, please see our Feb. 25 newspaper.
