Amelia Academy Varsity Girls Win Conference Game
2012, Jan 9 – The Amelia Academy Lady Patriots got back in the winning column as they returned to conference play last week. Following a tough nonconference loss to Miller School (ranked first in Division II) last Tuesday, the girls were able to rebound with a blowout victory over Christchurch on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Lady Patriots went toe-to-toe with the two-time defending Division III state champions before losing at the end 54-44. Miller School, which had moved up to Division II this season, found themselves in a battle that would go down to the final minute. The Lady Patriots went back and forth with the Lady Mavericks in the first half, trailing 26-23 at halftime. The game would remain close throughout the second half, with Amelia Academy having the lead briefly in the fourth quarter. With Miller up by five with about a minute and a half left, the Lady Patriots were forced to start fouling, and the lead would grow to ten.
Senior Amara E. led Amelia Academy with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Fellow senior Lauren V. had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Freshman Chelsea D. had 7 points and sophomore Casey V. added 5 points and 4 rebounds. Junior Megan J. had 4 points, 7 assists and 2 steals.
On Thursday, the Lady Patriots kicked off the second part of their VCC regular season play with a convincing 90-24 victory over Christchurch. Amelia Academy had control from start to finish and led 45-13 at half. Every player scored for the Lady Patriots, who had 30 assists as a team.
Leading the way was Amara with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Lauren registered a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Junior Kristyn C. had 15 points, with 3 treys. Megan also had a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists, along with 5 steals. Casey added 10 points and 3 rebounds. Chelsea had 5 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists. Junior Darlene H. had 4 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists and senior Holly S. rounded out the scoring with 2 points.
Coach Frank Shanaberger said, “We competed at a very high level against a tough Miller team. They are a perennial powerhouse, and we gave them all they could handle. Unfortunately, we had a stretch late in the fourth quarter where we came up empty on a few possessions, and they answered with baskets.
We were able to get back to our transition game on Thursday and run the floor like we want to do. Our 2-3 zone and 1-3-1 zone did a good job of triggering our fast break attack, and we shared the ball and found the open player. It was a good bounce back win following our loss to Miller.”
The Lady Patriots are scheduled to play Tidewater Academy at home on Monday night and then host Fuqua School on Friday night along with the boys’ teams.