Giants fall by three

Only three points stood in the way of Waynesboro’s quest for its first win of the season.

The Little Giants worked for more than a minute to knot the score, but fell to undefeated Rockbridge 54-51. Waynesboro trailed by 10 points with 3:20 to play when Jolie Dudley hit her fifth 3-pointer of the night to spark a 9-2 run for the Little Giants. Shanda Brown hit two 3s in the run.

In the final minutes, the Little Giants had several opportunities to tie, or win, the game but couldn’t get the ball into the basket.

“I thought they gave a valiant effort down the stretch,” said Waynesboro coach Secrett Stubblefield. “We were down by 10 with three minutes to go and we clawed our way back in.”

The Wildcats helped the Little Giants stay in the game going 7-16 at the line in the final stanza.

“The last two or three minutes it’s pressure time,” said first-year Rockbridge coach Mike McElroy. “We hit a couple [free throws] when we needed to, but if they hit a few more we would have won by about 10.”

Despite the loss, Stubblefield said that the Little Giants made progress in the game.

“I think it has been up and down, with different frequencies,” she said. “Tonight, I think we took a couple of steps forward.”

Waynesboro’s Dudley hit five 3s for the Little Giants and Brown put in another two. Stubblefield said that the long-range attack wasn’t going to be the Little Giants’ calling card this season, but the team just took advantage of the situation.

“Just like any team, off of penetration you want to draw the defense and kick it out and get a shot,” she said. “Tonight we had people knocking down 3s.”

The Wildcats also favored the 3-point shot on Tuesday, sinking five.

The Little Giants led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter, thanks in part to Latoya Diggs’ five free throws and two Dudley treys, but it would be the only quarter Waynesboro would win.

Rockbridge’s (4-0, 1-0 Southern Valley) inside game began to click in the second frame, putting up 15 points on Waynesboro to take the lead.

The third quarter was detrimental for Waynesboro, when the Wildcats started on a nine-point run. Waynesboro only scored nine points in the quarter, allowing Rockbridge to take a 39-33 lead.

Three Little Giants fouled out in the fourth quarter, Telisha Spencer (6:19) Bethany Spencer (1:31), and Afton Quick (18.1) making the final Waynesboro (0-4, 0-1 Southern Valley) attempt even harder.

“… I think the foul trouble got us in the end,” Stubblefield said.

Two rivals will take on the defending Southern Valley champions this week. Wilson will travel to Waynesboro on Wednesday for the two teams’ second meeting. Wilson beat Waynesboro 50-44 on Dec. 1. On Friday the Little Giants will play in their second district contest, traveling to Robert E. Lee.