Western Albemarle’s girls basketball team is starting to pick up steam.
After dropping a pair of games last week to Fluvanna County and Monticello, the Warriors dispatched Orange Wednesday and followed it up by avenging that loss to Monticello with a 44-26 victory over the Mustangs at home Friday night.
The Warriors got started well out of the gate, building a 15-8 lead in the first quarter with Kayleigh and Karina Long each hitting a three. Karina scored seven of her nine points in the opening frame while Kayleigh had an all-around performance with seven points, four steals, five assists and six rebounds.
Western leaned on some lockdown defense to get the job done with Long’s four steals leading a 20-steal effort as a team. Ellie Smartt, Karina Long and Mattie Shearer each had three steals too, with Shearer also notching eight points. In the second and third quarters, Western held Monticello five and four points respectively as the Mustangs’ offense that had reached 51 points in two big wins over Fluvanna and the Warriors in the last week sputtered.
Dyllan Wood and Samantha Shifflett each scored eight points for the Mustangs to handle the bulk of the scoring.
The Warriors will now travel to take on Albemarle Monday in a rivalry clash pending inclement weather while the Mustangs travel to Orange Tuesday.
