Lynchburg-Clay’s Lady Mustangs ended their season on Saturday, February 17, at Valley High School in an exciting Division III Southeast District Sectional Championship game against Southern Hills Athletic Conference foe the Eastern Lady Warriors.
The Lady Mustangs fought back in the fourth quarter and tied the game with 28 seconds to go when Abby Blankenship stepped to the free throw line and hit a pair to tie it at 56 apiece. The ensuing Eastern possession resulted in a driving layup by Alexa Pennington that gave the Lady Warriors a 58-56 lead.
Lynchburg was able to get a good look on a layup attempt by Blankenship that rimmed out and was rebounded by the Lady Warriors. Following a timeout by Eastern, Zoe Fittro was called for an intentional foul that resulted in two free throws for Morgan Reynolds and possession for the Lady Warriors. Reynolds hit both free throws with 3.7 seconds to play to ice the game and provide the final score of 60-56.
Lynchburg-Clay head coach Whitney Lewis talked about the fight her team showed late in the game.
“We called a timeout in the third quarter and told the girls that we were not going to go out like that. We fought back tooth and nail. Eastern is just a tough match-up for us, they have some big kids that a really strong underneath. We fought back and we made a run at it there at the end. We had some opportunities but, the ball didn’t bounce our way,” Lewis said.
Lynchburg-Clay was led by Peyton Scott who scored 24 points on the night, the Lady Mustangs were also buoyed by 13 points from Logan Binkley and nine points from Blankenship.
Eastern was able to put three girls in double figures as Whiteney Broughton and Pennington scored 15 points each, while Morgan Reynolds contributed 12 points in the win.
The Lady Warriors controlled the game for three quarters as they scored at least 16 points apiece in the first three as they built a 14 point lead. The Eastern defense was locked in on Lynchburg’s Scott for the majority of the night as they employed a box and one defense and sent a double team at her every time she touched the ball.
Coach Lewis talked about her two seniors who finished their careers on Saturday and her pride in the team as a whole.
“Our kids are dedicted to our program and they work hard night in and night out. You can’t ask for more than that. I thought our season was successful with a winning record and making it to a sectional finals and playing a team we have played two times before. We played them to the wire and I am just super proud of our kids for that. Abby Blankenship and Emily Pinkerton have been in our program since junior high and played together. They are great kids, they have given everything they can to our program and they have every single year and every single time they step on the floor. We are going to miss them in our program for sure,” said Lewis.
(Box Score)
EHS: 18-16-19-7
LCHS: 10-13-16-17
Eastern: Pickerell (3)-9; Broughton 2(3)-2/2-15; Reynolds 4-4/4-12; Malott 2-4; Farris 2-1/2-5; Pennington 3(3)-15
Totals: 13(9)-7/8-60
Lynchburg-Clay: Blankenship 1(1)-4/7-9; Fittro (2)-1/2-7; Pinkerton (1)-3; Scott 7(3)-1/1-24; Binkley 6-1/2-13
Totals: 14(7)-7/12-56
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
