Close Contests For Lady Hornets
By Laurie-Jean B. Gauthier

Whitcomb exchange student, Aneta Merksbauerova, looks to pass over her Red Devil opponent, Morgan Tullar. The Lady Hornets defeated Chelsea by five. (Herald / Joyce Hunt)

The Whitcomb Lady Hornets were the spoilers at the season opener for the Red Devils in Chelsea last Wednesday, Dec. 5 as they defeated their hosts 30-25 for their first win of the season.

Up by four points, 7-3, after one period and leading 15-8 at the break, Whitcomb went back to only a three-point lead after three before finishing 5-up for the victory.

Hornets Laurel Adams and Molly Taylor did most of the damage, combining for 28 of the 30 points Whitcomb scored in the game. Adams had 15 points while Taylor had 13. Red Devil Robyn Kennedy was game high-scorer with 16 points.

Close Contest v Billstown

A gym use mix-up forced Williamstown to travel to Bethel for an away game turned home-court advantage contest for the Whitcomb Lady Hornets, this past Monday night. Unfortunately, the advantage became a disadvantage, when the Hornets missed two from the line with 7.2 seconds left, and Williamstown took possession and the 39-37 victory as the clock expired.

Whitcomb won the tip but failed to score on their next two possessions. Stephanie Gagnon penetrated the lane and scored the first hoop for Williamstown, plus the foul shot. Laurel Adams scored first for Whitcomb. Back-and-forth hoops followed before Tia McKenna deposited back-to-back baskets, plus one from the stripe, that gave Whitcomb a two-point lead. Brittney Martin cut the lead to one from the line for a 9-8 Hornet first quarter edge.

It was more of the same in the second period when first Williamstown’s Kristin Brown scored and then Whitcomb’s Aneta Merksbauerova matched the tally with her first-ever varsity hoop. A quick Blue Devil foul put Merksbauerova on the free throw line and it was swish-swish as she nabbed two more. Molly Taylor added two free tosses as Whitcomb went up 15-10. Williamston answered with five points of their own to tie the game.

Three consecutive Hornet fouls opened the third period before Williamstown went up by one off a Lauren Beattie free throw at 6:32, and then by three as Gagnon cleared the strings. Whitcomb’s Taylor cut the lead by two and Adams retied the game one free toss later. Back-to-back deposits kept things even before the Blue Devils went back up by six. Demi Aldrighetti cut their lead back to two, before Williamstown ended the third with a 27-22 lead.

Adams got things going at the start of the fourth quarter when she scored back-to-back baskets which brought Whitcomb within one. Kristin Brown put Williamstown right back up by three, and then Gagnon added one point for a four-point Hornet deficit. Aldrighetti and McKenna retied the game for the Hornets, but Williamstown scored on the next possession to go back up by two. Brittany Washburn made a mid-court steal, and took the ball all the way down and in, for another tie at 2:26. The Blue Devils scored on both sides of a McKenna hoop for a 37-34 edge.

McKenna netted one from the line, plus added a hoop to retie the game 37-all, with 59.9 seconds remaining. Down to 33.6 seconds and still tied, the Hornets were unable to stop Gagnon as she sneaked around her man and deposited the eventual winning lay-up at 27 seconds.

Whitcomb (1-2) hosted the D-III South Royalton Royals last night, and they will be hosting the United Christian Academy at 5 p.m. tomorrow, before hitting the road for Craftsbury Monday, Dec. 17.

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