West Jeff girls outdistance London, 52-43

By Fran Odyniec

Editor

 

In a game that featured at times seven out of ten players on the floor as either freshmen or sophomores, the West Jefferson lady Roughriders beat the London lady Red Raiders on t

he boards at key times to take a 52-43 win last night at West Jefferson.

“We came out with a lot of energy early,” said London coach Ben Ackley, “and dominated the first quarter.”

Ackley credits West Jefferson coach Tim Converse for calling a time out in that quarter to slow down the Red Raiders.

“They were not having a good first quarter,” said Ackley.

After the time out, the Roughriders went on a 6-0 run which left the Red Raiders up by only 4 at the half.

The Red Raiders made adjustments to start the second half against the Roughriders’ zone defense.

“We got the looks we wanted,” said Ackley, “but we couldn’t get our high percentage shots to fall in during the second half.”

Nevertheless, Ackley said, “Give West Jefferson credit. They played a good second half.”

While the Red Raiders fell to 0-8, Ackley said that his team has nothing to be ashamed of.

“We’re the best 0-8 team in the state,” he told his girls during half-time. “We have to correct the tiny mistakes that we’re making.”

Ackley realizes that he has a young team, but sees its core as a maturing work-in-progress.

“We’re going through some growing pains right now,” he said, “that will pay off in the future.”

Leading scorers for West Jefferson were:

Kelsey Kirkpatrick with 11 points; Paige Fabry, 11 points; and Brittany Goleaner, 10 points.

London’s leading scorers were: Kayla Crager with 16 points ; Alicia Hiram, 11; Aianna Wilson, 5; and Kyra Cunningham, 5.