DODSONVILLE — The Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs hosted the North Adams Lady Green Devils Thursday at Lynchburg-Clay High School in a mtachup of two of the top teams in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. The Lady Green Devils gave it their best shot but the Lady Mustangs, led by 32 points from senior star Peyton Scott, came away with the 52-38 win to sweep the season series between the teams.
The teams traded baskets over the first few minutes of the first quarter and the score was tied at 4-4 before Scot hit her third basket of the game to spark a six to nothing run that put the Lady Mustangs in control.
Follwoing Scott’s basket Zoe Fittro finished off the run with two free throws and a layup to put Lynchburg-Clay up 10-4 with under two minutes to play in the first quarter.
North Adams responded with two three pointers sandwiched around a basket for the Lady Mustangs’ Logan Binkley to provide LC with a 12-10 lead heading into the second quarter of play.
Scott kept rolling in the second quarter and recorded the first four points on the period for the Lady Mustangs before finding Serena Smith open on the wing for a three pointer that propelled Lynchburg to a 19-13 lead.
North Adams had opportunities to cut into the lead at the free throw line over the next several minutes but only converted one out of four shots collectively.
Scott converted a three point play with 4:17 to play in the half to extend the Lady Mustangs’ lead to 22-16 before the Lady Green Devils turned up the heat with a 7-2 run to make the score 24-23 with five seconds to play in the second quarter.
From there Scott received the inbounds pass and dribbled the length of the floor before hitting a buzzer beating free throw line jumper to send Lynchburg to the locker room with a 26-23 lead.
Lynchburg-Clay and North Adams each came out of halftime ready to play and the Lady Green Devils were able to cut the Lady Mustangs lead to one point at 28-27 but were not able to get over the hump.
Lynchburg closed the third quarter with a 10-3 run that featured an intentional foul against North Adams when Scott was hit in the face by an elbow and the Lady Mustangs led 38-29 as the teams prepared for the fourth and final frame.
The Lady Mustangs opened the fourth with a 9-3 run that essentially sealed the game as the scoreboard read 48-32 in favor of Lynchburg-Clay.
The Lady Green Devils mustered six points over the final minutes but it was for naught as the Lady Mustangs cruised to the home victory.
The difference in the game was the defensive effort Lynchburg-Clay put forth in the second half when they held the Lady Green Devils to 15 points total.
“We like to play aggressive defense, we like to play up tempo defense,” said Lynchburg-Clay Head Coach Whitney Lewis. “Sometimes we weren’t able to tonight because of the foul trouble so we had to make a little of adjustment with that. But, I thought we held strong in our zone and team effort play on the inside. We were outmatched as far as size goes with this team but I think we really played a team game to stop their inside game and it worked out for us.”
Lynchburg-Clay has another key SHAC game on Saturday, January 12, when they will travel to Eastern Brown High School to take on the Lady Warriors.
Score by quarters
LCHS 12-14-12-14
NAHS 10-13-6-9
Lynchburg-Clay: Fittro 2(1)-4/6-11; Smith (1)-3; Scott 12-8/9-32; Lunsford 1-2; Binkley 2-4
Totals: 17(2)-12/15-52
North Adams: Sonner 2-0/3-4; Shipley 4/6-4; Buttlewerth1-2; Call 1(2)-8; McDowell 3(2)-2/4-14; Harper 1(1)-1/2-6
Totals: 8(5)-7/15-38
Ryan Applegate is the sports editor for The Times-Gazette. Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
