The West Holmes girls' basketball team (8-4, 6-1) took on Lexington (6-8, 5-3) in a back-and-forth matchup on Jan. 11, with the Knights walking away with a 49-45 win led by Keegan Uhl's 13 points.
Lexington took a 2-0 lead to start the game, but Uhl responded with a three pointer to put West Holmes up 3-2. Briar Cline increased the lead to 5-2 on a fast break score coming off a sweet assist by Allie McMillen with 6:30 left in the first quarter. The Knights went up 14-6 on another three by Uhl. West Holmes led 20-15 after one quarter, but Lexington went on to outscore West Holmes 6-5 in the second. It was a 25-21 game in favor of the Knights at halftime.
West Holmes outscored the Minutemen 10-6 in the third quarter, and while Lexington had a big 18-14 fourth quarter, the Knights were able to hold on for their fourth straight win.
Uhl led the scoring with 13 points, while also dishing out an assist and grabbing a rebound, She had two steals in the win, as well. Aveona Yoder reached double figures with 10 points. Yoder also had five boards, one assist, one steal and a block.
McMillen just missed a double-double with nine points and 12 boards. She also had five assists and five steals in the win.
Cline played well with nine points, two boards and three assists. Zalina Proper was big on defense with three steals to go with six points. Nealie Fair had two points and two boards.
Lexington was led by Ava Brown, who had 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting. She also grabbed 13 boards and recorded a block. Makaree Chapman had 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Cora Palmer scored nine points, and also had two steals and an assist.
“Lexington is a very good team,” said Coach Lindsy Belden. “They have guards that are a huge offensive threat, and tall post players that make defending them difficult. I would say the key to winning this game was that we had several players contribute in different ways. Allie had several big plays late in the game that helped solidify the game. We competed and battled when we needed to, and I was really proud of every single kid on our team.”
The win was the fourth straight victory for the Knights. However, West Holmes had the tough task of facing the Margaretta Polar Bears (12-1, 4-0) on Jan. 13 and suffered a 35-26 loss in the Classic in the Country Tournament.
Cline led the Knights with a 14 point effort, which included two threes in the first quarter. Yoder had six points but controlled the glass with 13 rebounds. McMillen had three points, five rebounds and four steals, while Chloe Patten had three points.
