Behind Hall’s game-high performance, Lady Jays remain red hot with 7th straight victory in 51-25 win over Alfred-Almond

Written By Chris Brooks

WHITESVILLE — There have been a number of girls basketball teams within a certain stretch of games that have managed to find their hot streak. Wellsville has been one of them as of late, having won six straight before it was extinguished by Fillmore last week.

Currently, Cuba-Rushford and Whitesville have won their last five games in a row. For one of them, a chance to extend it came about on Tuesday, when the Lady Jays welcomed into town the Alfred-Almond Lady Eagles.

Whitesville made a big run through the opening quarter before Alfred-Almond closed the gap with their best quarter of the night in the second. But in the second half, the hosts dominated by holding their opposition to just nine more points from the field, as they connected on a big third quarter run along the way to pull the trigger on their seventh straight victory by a 51-25 count over the Lady Eagles.

“Aside from our second quarter, I was very happy with our defensive effort tonight. Offensively, I thought we did a nice job in transition. We also shared the ball very well. This was one of our more balanced scoring outputs.”

Right away, the Lady Jays (8-2) started off strong through the first five minutes of the first quarter, pitching a 9-0 shutout of Alfred-Almond with three-pointers from Vanessa Hall and Kate Pensyl leading the way. The Lady Eagles were able to get on the board with three minutes left in the frame, but Whitesville finished up with the last six points to complete what was a 15-2 run.

Their lead was trimmed down later on, as Alfred-Almond narrowly outscored Whitesville by a 14-12 count, getting as close as six before the Lady Jays grew their lead back out one more time to double digits at the end of the half.

Whitesville would put the finishing touches on their victory upon exiting the locker room, as they held Alfred-Almond to just nine more points across the next 16 minutes, including four in the third quarter in the midst of their insurmountable 19-4 run to pull away.

Hall finished as Whitesville’s top scorer with a game-high 21 points, combining the top performance with eight rebounds, four assists and a trio of blocks. Pensyl added nine points to go with eight rebounds, and five steals, while Serina Button and Kennedy Bledsoe chipped in with eight points. Rachel Jackson added four steals on special teams.

The Lady Jays will begin their search for their seventh straight win back on their home floor Thursday night, as they prepare to welcome in the Houghton Academy Lady Panthers for a 6 p.m. contest.

Alfred-Almond      2 14   4 5 – 25

Whitesville           15 12 19 5 – 51

ALFRED-ALMOND: Logan Brown 2 3-4 7, Avery Libordi 2 0-0 5, Luci Lee 1 0-0 2, Maggie Griffin 2 1-3 5, Lauren Kelly 1 0-0 2, Andrea McMahon 0 2-2 2, Kayla Snyder 1 0-4 2. Totals: 9 6-13 25.
WHITESVILLE: Kennedy Bledsoe 3 2-3 8, Rachel Jackson 0 1-2 1, Serena Ainsworth 1 0-0 2, Vanessa Hall 7 5-6 21, Chelsie Reisman 1 0-0 2, Kate Pensyl 3 1-2 9, Serina Button 4 0-0 8. Totals: 19 9-13 51.

3-point goals: A-A 1 (Libordi), Whitesville 4 (Hall 2, Pensyl 2).
Total Fouls: A-A 12, Whitesville 15. Fouled out: None.

Chris Brooks
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