JV girls open season at Charlottesville
Learn more about the Streak’s hopes for the season by reading the season preview.
With five out of the ten JV girls combining for a total score of 29 points, the team put up a fight against the Charlottesville Black Knights on Monday night. In their season opener, the Blue Streaks had to lock in early in the game in order to put points on the board. Returning to the team as a freshman, Mallory Knupp came up big adding 10 points, along with points from first year player (freshman) Haylee Smith with five, and sophomore Nisha Farmer adding six. Their efforts however could not give the Streaks the win as they fell to the Black Knights 29-43.
The Streaks started out by putting up only four points in the first quarter, all due to early fouls called on Charlottesville, which lead to the Blue Streaks going 4/4 from the free throw line. Early fast breaks for CHS and turnovers by HHS caused the streaks to fall behind 4-8 going into the second quarter.
Three more Streaks stepped up in the second quarter, allowing HHS to double their score. The consistent feeding of Smith, Knupp, as well Farmer, allowed the post players to grab offensive rebounds and score on both layups and put backs. Harrisonburg ran into the locker room at halftime trailing the Black Knights 21-12. A slow start to the third quarter resulted in only two points being scored by Harrisonburg and a 12-2 run by the Black Knights.
Despite Charlottesville having lots of momentum propelling them into the final quarter, HHS started to drill down during the fourth. Freshman Jeslyn Liu brought the first spark of energy back to the court by swishing a three pointer. The next play was followed by Smith breaking away for a fast break layup.
“We all started to get energized once we saw each other putting up points and getting steals. The enthusiasm was vital to getting our momentum going. After a slow third quarter, we needed an extra boost to help us gain some energy back to finish out the game,” Liu said.
By gaining both confidence in their abilities and momentum in the game, Harrisonburg had their best quarter yet, scoring a total of 15 points. Foul calls late in the game caused six of the ten girls to have three or more fouls which forced the constant subbing of players. While some teams may have considered this a disadvantage, Harrisonburg benefited greatly from having fresh players on the court.
“Most players were exhausted from running up and down the court and playing defense, since this was our first game, so having a fresh pair of legs was very important to finishing out the game, “ Liu said. “ The newfound energy allowed us to run back on defense and communicate better. We were able to get a breather when we were subbed out, allowing us to hop back in the game and do the same for our teammate.”
Coach Rohlehr hopes to use the game as a learning experience after a 14 point loss.
“Overall, we played really well for our first game considering it was the first time a lot of the girls have ever played with each other. We came out on the losing end but we’re definitely using it as a learning experience,” Rohlehr said. “ I think now that we have a game under our belt, the team has a better understanding of the level of basketball we need to play to win games and we are going to keep improving every day in practice.”
