Taylor Leads Lady Hornets
By Laurie Jean B. Gauthier

The Whitcomb Lady Hornets opened their season on the road in the annual Stub Stearns Bean Pot Classic against the Rochester Rockettes at VTC in Randolph Center Saturday, Dec. 9, and lost by a wide margin, 43-17.

Outscored 17-2 in the first quarter, it was a tighter second as Whitcomb went one hoop better than Rochester in the 8-6 period for a 23-10 half. Unfortunately another Rockette rout, 16-3, had the Hornets out-hooped and out in the cold in the third, giving Rochester a commanding 26-point advantage in the 39-13 quarter. Both teams finished with four points apiece as the Hornets fell and the Rockettes took possession of the Bean Pot.

Rochester’s Sam Mishkit was the "hot-handed" Rockette Whitcomb couldn’t stop, who finished with 20 points, including four treys. Molly Taylor led the Hornets with six points.

The Hornets faired better against Websterville, leading 26-3 after two and 52-3 at the finish as they put up double digits of 15 points, 10 pounds, 14 points and 12 points respectively from start to finish last Tuesday. Katie Perry scored the lone Crusader hoop, a perfectly arched three-pointer during the second quarter to the delight of the fans in the losing effort.

Molly Taylor scored 16 points for the high score while teammates Emily Wright and Laurel Adams matched Taylor’s take with eight points apiece.

Loss to TSA

Whitcomb (1-1) hosted TSA one week ago and lost to their guests, 43-32. The Hornets outscored the Phoenix by four points in the first period, 16-12, but TSA erased the advantage and outscored the Hornets 8-4 for an evened-up 20-20 half-time tally.

TSA returned after the break and took over, scoring 11 points while limiting Whitcomb to four, putting the Phoenix up 31-24 after three.

During the fourth quarter Whitcomb did manage to cut the lead to five points but the Phoenix responded underneath. Missing charity stripe tosses, TSA out-rebounded the Hornets to recoup off second chance balls finishing with 12 points while Whitcomb scored eight.

Zannah Pierce earned a double-double with a high score of 18 points and 16 rebounds for TSA while teammate Eliza Chadwick ended with eight. Molly Taylor continues to lead Whitcomb in scoring with 11 points and Laurel Adams added nine.

Tough Loss to Devils

It was another disappointing finish for the Hornets as they lost at home to the Williamstown Blue Devils on Saturday, Dec. 16.

With Laurel Adams opening the scoring off a Chelsie Brown bounce-pass in the lane followed by a Demi Aldrighetti three-pointer from downtown at 6:32, it was a Whitcomb lead that Williamstown had to match in order to get into the game and unfortunately that’s just what they did. Back-to-back hoops by Stephanie St. Onge and Megan Gingrass tied the game at 4:14 before the Blue Devils kept it scoring to take the lead. Hornet Molly Taylor cut the lead with a hoop, but Lauren Beattie matched her shot. Emily Wright responded at 57 seconds, cutting the Blue Devil Lead to one, but a hoop by Kristin Brown at 19 seconds put Williamstown up 12-9 after one.

Just one minute back in, Hornet Emily Wright cut the lead to one, followed by a Molly Taylor basket and a Brown free toss, and at 5:55 it was the Hornets back in front. Blue Devil Sarah Baily retied the game at 4:18, followed by another Williamstown take-over. Laurel Adams answered to put the Hornets within one and Molly Taylor hit the go-ahead hoop. The game was retied 19-all at the half. A solid three-point deposit by Molly Taylor started the third but Williamstown went back up by six, before a second trey by Taylor cut the lead again. Williamstown led by seven, 32-25, before a basket by Emily Wright with 2.8 seconds remaining on the clock put Whitcomb at 27 and down by five.

Demi Aldrighetti cut the lead back to three in the fourth, but a five-point run from the Blue Devils put the Hornets down by nine with less than four minutes to erase the deficit. Back-to-back baskets by Molly Taylor helped and Laurel Adams and Molly Taylor both added a basket in the last two minutes, but Williamstown added nine points with five of those points coming from foul shots down the stretch. After four, it was Williamstown 48 and Whitcomb 38.

Stephanie Gagnon finished with 11, followed by Stephanie St. Onge with eight. Taylor was high scorer with 12, which included two three-pointers and Wright had six.

Whitcomb travels to South Ryegate tomorrow to face the Blue Mountain Lady Bucks and then host the Chelsea Red Devils on Wednesday, Dec. 27. Both games start at 6 p.m.

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