Lady Mountaineers fall, 51-46, to West
By Darren Dunlapsports@thedailytimes.com
Originally published: December 09. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: December 08. 2009 11:37PM
A second half surge put Heritage within striking distance of toppling district power West High School on Tuesday.
But the Lady Rebels survived, 51-46, to remain undefeated in District 4-AAA.
Senior point guard Tracy Hardiman led Heritage's Lady Mountaineers (4-3, 0-2) with 15 points, most of which came off drives to the basket. She also had three of the team's 11 steals.
Point guard Shira Buley proved the biggest challenge for Heritage, scoring 16 to lead West. Buley's play and 23 missed shots in the paint hurt Heritage, according to coach Rick Howard.
The Lady Mountaineers got back in the game in the third quarter with six points from post player Whitney Wolfe. Guard Lauren Burnett heated up, scoring six as well. Her last bucket, with less than a minute to go in the third quarter, came off a steal and cut West's lead to 37-33.
Hardiman pulled the Lady Mountaineers within one point of West midway through the fourth quarter.
Heritage's last chance to win came on a 3-point shot from Kat Morris with 31 seconds left in the game. The shot dribbled off the rim, but Morris drew a foul and hit all three shots from the line, cutting West's lead to one again. Buley, who went to the foul line two times in last 30 seconds, hit four shots to seal West's victory.
Rebels 79, Mountaineers 40
Heritage scored the first two points of the game against West (5-0, 1-0), but that was only time the home team led on Tuesday.
West put up 35 points in the second quarter and never let up to beat Heritage, 79-40.
Three Rebels posted double figures -- Carson Brooks, Jaywuan Mitchell, and Phillip Stanford each scored 12 points.
Mountaineer Matt Wilburn hit three shots from beyond the arc and led the team with 11 points.
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