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Tuesday, Nov. 28 – The Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team opened its season with a 67-43 home loss to Alleghany on Tuesday night in Lexington.
The nondistrict game was close early on, with the Wildcats trailing 13-10 after the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run and took their first lead when Henry Lambert hit an inside shot to make it 16-15. There were two lead changes before the Cougars ended the half on a 9-2 run, with Christopher Harden making a three-point play at the buzzer by scoring on a layup and then hitting a free throw. At halftime, Alleghany led 27-20.
Early in the third quarter, the Wildcats cut the lead to three when Sam Ballstaedt hit back-to-back 3-pointers, but Alleghany then took control, going on a 14-0 run and taking a 47-32 lead into the fourth quarter. Capitalizing on RC turnovers and using their speed to score off them, the Cougars extended their lead to 29 points in the fourth quarter, and reserves finished the game.
The Wildcats committed 20 turnovers, while Alleghany had eight.
Lambert and Ballstaedt led RC with 12 points each, with Ballstaedt sinking four 3-pointers, while Milo Mulitalo added seven points. Hitting one 3-pointer apiece for the Wildcats, who have just four returning players, were Zane Ramsey and Jackson White.
Leading Alleghany, which merged with Covington High School entering this school year and picked up some Covington players, was Harden with 16 points. Anthony Webb added 14 points for the Cougars, sinking four 3-pointers, while Eli Entsminger contributed 12 points and Purcel Turner chipped in 10.
The Wildcats will continue nondistrict action next week when they travel to Salem next Tuesday before playing host to Fort Defiance on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Both nights will start with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
For the full story and photos from this the opener, please see our Dec. 6 newspaper.
