The Rockbridge County High School girls basketball team suffered a 54-45 road loss to Valley District rival Harrisonburg on Friday night.
With the loss, the Wildcats fell to 0-3 in the district and saw their three-game winning streak snapped. The Blue Streaks improved to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the district.
“We didn’t play well at all,” said RC head coach Darrell Plogger.
The following afternoon, the Wildcats bounced back with a 40-24 win at Parry McCluer, as RC evened up its record at 5-5. (See separate story.)
On Friday, the Wildcats were missing junior forward Lola Mulitalo, a strong scorer, rebounder and defender, as she was out with a sore throat. “Not having her hurt, but we just struggled,” said Plogger.
Harrisonburg, which split the season series with RC last year, led 25-18 after the first quarter on Friday. After a scoreless second quarter, the Wildcats cut the Blue Streaks’ lead to 37-34 by the end of the third quarter. However, Harrisonburg outscored RC 17-11 in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Ruby Goodhart led the Wildcats with 18 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, while Abby Bouchard scored 13 points and had seven boards, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Emma Clark added six points on two 3-pointers and two assists, while Des Butler chipped in five points and led RC with four steals. Bella Dorey chipped in three points and led the Wildcats with four assists.
Sierra Cain led the Blue Streaks with 20 points, Alyse Sheffey scored 14 points, and McKenna Dayton had 12.
RC hit five 3-pointers, while Harrisonburg made just one triple.
The Wildcats struggled at the free throw line, shooting 50 percent (6-of-12), while Harrisonburg shot 65.5 percent (19-of-29). RC committed 27 turnovers and shot just 41.5 percent (17-of-41) from the field.
The Wildcats will continue district action at home against Spotswood on Friday before traveling to Turner Ashby on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. on both nights.
