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By Lenny Sundahl
Tribune Correspondent
FROSTBURG--Mountain Ridge's Lady Miners started ice-cold and finished in a puddle, registering just 14 shot attempts in the second half as Fort Hill's defense prevailed, with the Sentinels winning by a final score of 51-40 Monday night. Fort Hill's Alyssia Twigg had 13 points, Alesha Jackson added 10, Sarah Lowery had 8 points and 2 blocks, and Ashley O'Neal had 8 points and a game-high 5 steals. Sarah Raines (pictured, right) led all scorers for Mountain Ridge with 14 points and added 4 steals, while Shae Winner had 11 points and 3 blocks in the loss.
Both teams came out very aggressively defensively, resulting in large quantities of turnovers for both teams.
The Sentinels got the early advantage in large part due to a cold-shooting Lady Miner offense; after keeping things fairly close in the first quarter, only down 14-11,
Mountain Ridge missed their first seven field goal attempts of the second quarter. Fort Hill opened on a 7-0 run before a pair of free throws from Sarah Raines--who scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half--brought the Miners back to within eight, 21-13 with 5:21 to go in the half.
They then turned the ball over on their next four possessions, courtesy of four consecutive Sentinel steals, but Fort Hill turned the ball over three times in the same stretch, unable to capitalize on their thievery. Mountain Ridge came back to within four, 25-21, after a Torey Weimer layup with 1:12 to go; Shae Winner then took the ball from the Sentinels, only to lose the ball to Fort Hill's Ashley O'Neal, who went the rest of the way for a layup; on the very next possession, Alyssia Twigg did nearly the exact same feat, stretching their lead back up to eight points going into the locker room.
The teams combined for 18 steals between them: 11 for Fort Hill and 7 for Mountain Ridge.
The Sentinels ratcheted up the pressure defensively, however, and the Miners began to fade further, turning the ball over five times in their first six possessions as Fort Hill stretched their lead to 36-23 after a layup from Alyssia Twigg with 4:39 to go in the third quarter. Mountain Ridge went on a 5-0 run in the next minute to cut the lead back down to 8, but with both teams playing defensive basketball, an eight point lead might as well have been eighty for the Miners.
After a Sarah Lowery jumper put Fort Hill back up twelve, 40-28, with 2:30 left in the third quarter, the teams engaged in a defensive frenzy that resulted in as many combined turnovers as points over the next five minutes; the Sentinels won both these battles 6-3, and with just over five minutes to go had stretched their lead to 46-32.
So dominating was the defensive effort from Fort Hill by this point that Mountain Ridge had more turnovers (10) than field goal attempts (7) in the fourth quarter; in a reverse of the first half, where they hit just 28 percent of their shots but did a better job of holding onto the ball, they shot significantly better, percentage-wise, than they did in the first half, but with 7 shots made out of only 14.
The junior varsity game was another full-court frenzy; the Miners came out to an 11-4 lead, only to briefly lose the lead in the third quarter before rallying back to seal the victory 33-27.
Amie and Katie Blank each scored 8 to lead Mountain Ridge; Camden Wilson led all scorers for Fort Hill with 11, of which 9 came in the second quarter and none in the second half.
Mountain Ridge (7-9) travels to Hampshire on Wednesday; Fort Hill (11-4) goes back home to renew hostilities with Allegany on Wednesday as well.
By Lenny Sundahl
Tribune Correspondent
FROSTBURG--Mountain Ridge's Lady Miners started ice-cold and finished in a puddle, registering just 14 shot attempts in the second half as Fort Hill's defense prevailed, with the Sentinels winning by a final score of 51-40 Monday night. Fort Hill's Alyssia Twigg had 13 points, Alesha Jackson added 10, Sarah Lowery had 8 points and 2 blocks, and Ashley O'Neal had 8 points and a game-high 5 steals. Sarah Raines (pictured, right) led all scorers for Mountain Ridge with 14 points and added 4 steals, while Shae Winner had 11 points and 3 blocks in the loss.
Both teams came out very aggressively defensively, resulting in large quantities of turnovers for both teams.
The Sentinels got the early advantage in large part due to a cold-shooting Lady Miner offense; after keeping things fairly close in the first quarter, only down 14-11,
Mountain Ridge missed their first seven field goal attempts of the second quarter. Fort Hill opened on a 7-0 run before a pair of free throws from Sarah Raines--who scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half--brought the Miners back to within eight, 21-13 with 5:21 to go in the half.
They then turned the ball over on their next four possessions, courtesy of four consecutive Sentinel steals, but Fort Hill turned the ball over three times in the same stretch, unable to capitalize on their thievery. Mountain Ridge came back to within four, 25-21, after a Torey Weimer layup with 1:12 to go; Shae Winner then took the ball from the Sentinels, only to lose the ball to Fort Hill's Ashley O'Neal, who went the rest of the way for a layup; on the very next possession, Alyssia Twigg did nearly the exact same feat, stretching their lead back up to eight points going into the locker room.
The teams combined for 18 steals between them: 11 for Fort Hill and 7 for Mountain Ridge.
The Sentinels ratcheted up the pressure defensively, however, and the Miners began to fade further, turning the ball over five times in their first six possessions as Fort Hill stretched their lead to 36-23 after a layup from Alyssia Twigg with 4:39 to go in the third quarter. Mountain Ridge went on a 5-0 run in the next minute to cut the lead back down to 8, but with both teams playing defensive basketball, an eight point lead might as well have been eighty for the Miners.
After a Sarah Lowery jumper put Fort Hill back up twelve, 40-28, with 2:30 left in the third quarter, the teams engaged in a defensive frenzy that resulted in as many combined turnovers as points over the next five minutes; the Sentinels won both these battles 6-3, and with just over five minutes to go had stretched their lead to 46-32.
So dominating was the defensive effort from Fort Hill by this point that Mountain Ridge had more turnovers (10) than field goal attempts (7) in the fourth quarter; in a reverse of the first half, where they hit just 28 percent of their shots but did a better job of holding onto the ball, they shot significantly better, percentage-wise, than they did in the first half, but with 7 shots made out of only 14.
The junior varsity game was another full-court frenzy; the Miners came out to an 11-4 lead, only to briefly lose the lead in the third quarter before rallying back to seal the victory 33-27.
Amie and Katie Blank each scored 8 to lead Mountain Ridge; Camden Wilson led all scorers for Fort Hill with 11, of which 9 came in the second quarter and none in the second half.
Mountain Ridge (7-9) travels to Hampshire on Wednesday; Fort Hill (11-4) goes back home to renew hostilities with Allegany on Wednesday as well.
