Mountain Valley’s Taylor Henry and Oak Hill’s Audrey Dillman struggle for control of the ball during Friday night’s basketball game at Oak Hill High School. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
WALES — Oak Hill sophomore Audrey Dillman forgot her No. 24 jersey at home, so she had to wear a spare with a 10 on it when she and the Raiders confronted Mountain Valley in a matchup of unbeaten Mountain Valley Conference girls’ basketball teams Friday night.
If Dillman is superstitious about jersey numbers, she didn’t show it while scoring 10 of her game-high 14 points in the first half as the Raiders seized control of what would ultimately be a 60-34 win.
Dillman added 12 rebounds, including seven off of the offensive glass, and the Raiders (8-0) buckled down defensively to limit the Falcons (7-1) to a season-low point total.
“I think we do really good on defense all the time and we all put in our part,” Dillman said. “We’re always making sure we cover the gaps and talk a lot.”
Senior Sadie Waterman led the defensive effort, drawing the difficult assignment of defending Mountain Valley leading scorer Rylee Sevigny and limiting her to eight points (along with nine rebounds and four steals), which is about half of her average.
“Defense is the name of our game,” said Oak Hill coach Mike Labonte, whose team was leading the conference in points allowed per game (25.2) through the first six games of the season.
“The great thing is, we’re in the locker room after and the girls say, ‘Coach, what time is practice tomorrow so we can keep getting better,’” Labonte said. “They have a great attitude.”
Sara Moring and Anna Beach added 10 points apiece for the Raiders. Courtney Carrier and Avery Sevigny had six points apiece for the Falcons.
Oak Hill led most of the way but seized control with a 9-2 run to end the second quarter that featured a Waterman 3-pointer and good ball movement that ended with layups by Moring, assisted by Dillman, and Dillman, assisted by Desirae Dumais.
“I think we just moved the ball really well and used each other as a team really well,” Dillman said.
The Raiders overcame poor shooting in the first half (8-for-30) by pounding the offensive glass and getting to the free-throw line, making 10 of 12 attempts.
“We drive enough to the hole that we do generally get (to the line) more than the other team because of it,” Labonte said. “We don’t really settle for 3s like a lot of teams do today. We kind of grind it out.”
Mountain Valley, by contrast, shot 1-for-7 from the charity stripe to make its 8-for-26 shooting from the field, and 27-17 halftime deficit, even more painful.
“We couldn’t get into a flow because of their defense,” Mountain Valley coach Craig Milledge said. “They held well. They matched back with shooters. Our shooters just didn’t get great looks. We didn’t shoot well, but we didn’t shoot well for a reason. They made us not shoot well.”
Oak Hill scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second half, capped by a Beach 3-pointer, to open up a 38-19 lead. The Falcons’ frustration mounted with 10 turnovers in the third quarter and just two points in the first 7:45 of the period.
“I think we can really tell when other teams are getting frustrated and we use that to our advantage,” Dillman said.
Mountain Valley got the deficit down to 15 to start the fourth, but Beach, who had all 10 of her points off the bench in the second half, and Moring scored inside to push the margin to 21 two minutes into the quarter.
Oak Hill’s Anna Beach goes up for a layup during Friday night’s basketball game at Oak Hill High School. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Mountain Valley’s Rylee Sevigny gets the rebound in front of Oak Hill’s Audrey Dillman during Friday night’s basketball game at Oak Hill High School. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Oak Hill’s Sara Moring keeps her eye on teh ball as she goes up for a basket during Friday night’s basketball game at Oak Hill High School. Mountain Valley’s Avery Sevigny plays defense. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Oak Hill’s Audrey Dillman shoots a basket as Mountain Valley’s Autumn Freeman plays defense during Friday night’s basketball game at Oak Hill High School. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Mountain Valley’s Avery Sevigny looks for a teammate past Oak Hill’s Audrey Dillman during Friday night’s basketball game at Oak Hill High School. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
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