LCHS smashes WU for sectional championship

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After not being on the floor against another team for nine days, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs (22-1) had to shake off a little rust in their sectional finals game against West Union on Saturday afternoon. After the first quarter though, the Lady Mustangs slipped into true form and trampled their opponents 64-39.

The first quarter started with the Lady Mustangs not being able to get their offense or their defense into a good rhythm. For McKayla Binkley, however, she was able to get her shot going from the get-go and scored eight points in the first frame. She also led her team and all scores with 16 points. After the first eight minutes, the score was tied 14-14.

In the second frame, the rest of the Lady Mustangs were able to get things going from both the inside and outside. They also stepped up their defense, holding West Union to just six points while scoring 23 themselves.

After the half, the Lynchburg team picked up where they left off, outscoring their opponents 15-6, led by Peyton Scott with six of those 15. Going into the final quarter, the Lady Mustangs held a 52-27 lead.

In the fourth and final eight minutes of play, the Lady Mustangs played dead even with the West Union Lady Dragons, each team tallying 12 points, and at the end of the game the Lady Mustangs had won themselves a sectional championship with a score of 64-39.

“We came out kind of flat and the atmosphere was kind of flat as well,” said Lynchburg head coach Whitney Lewis after the sectional win. “I thought in the second quarter, we did a much better job defensively and offensively outscoring them 23-6. I was much happier with our effort overall once that second quarter started. That kind of carried over to the second half. We had a good game from pretty much everybody. Vanessa Thiel played a really great game; McKayla Binkley came out from the start and played a good game; our seniors in general played pretty good. They understand that this is their last run so I’m excited that we got closer to the next step.

“We play this upcoming Thursday so hopefully we’ll be ready to go and be ready to battle it out with whoever we face. What hurt us this time was, with the snow and everything, we didn’t really get to practice as much as we probably could have, so I’m hoping we can get in the gym and get ready to go for our first district game.”

Box:

LCHS – 14 23 15 12 – 64

WUHS – 14 6 7 12 – 39

Lynchburg-Clay: M. Binkley 3(2) 4/4 – 16; Little 4 3/4 – 11; H. Binkley 3(1) 2/3 – 11; Thiel 3 4/8 – 10; Scott 4 2/3 – 10; Roush 1 2/2 – 4; Wills 1 – 2. Totals: 19(3) 17/24 – 64

West Union: Pennington 4(2) 0/1 – 14; Akers 1(1) 2/2 – 7; Gallowitz 2 – 4; Baldwin (1) 1/2 – 4; Runyan (1) – 3; Kirker (1) – 3; Riddle (1) – 3; Grooms 1/4 – 1. Totals: 7(7) 4/9 – 39.

Reach Robert Stegbauer at 937-393-3456 ext. 1679 or on Twitter @RStegbauer.

McKayla Binkley, who led the Lady Mustangs with 16 points, goes up for a shot over a West Union defender in Saturday afternoon’s game at Valley High School.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2016/02/web1_M.-Binkley-1.jpgMcKayla Binkley, who led the Lady Mustangs with 16 points, goes up for a shot over a West Union defender in Saturday afternoon’s game at Valley High School. Robert Stegbauer | The Times-Gazette

Vanessa Thiel put up a wide open shot during the second half of Saturday’s game against West Union.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2016/02/web1_Thiel-1.jpgVanessa Thiel put up a wide open shot during the second half of Saturday’s game against West Union. Robert Stegbauer | The Times-Gazette

By Robert Stegbauer

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