The Lady Elks of Elkin High School battled two conference opponents on the road last week. On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the Elks traveled to Boonville to face off with their Lady Ram rivals. The Elks were looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Rams but fell short in that endeavor. They traveled up the mountain to Alleghany County on Friday evening, Feb. 9, to meet up with the Trojans for the second time this season. And for the second time this season, the Elks captured a victory over the Trojans.
In the match-up with the Lady Rams, Elkin came out of the gate playing strong and with an intensity that made a definite statement. The Elks quickly jumped out front and took a 12-0 lead. Elkin scored their first bucket of the game on a beautiful assist from sophomore Ashtyn Godbey to junior center Presley Baker under the basket for the easy two. Baker reciprocated on the following trip down the floor and fed the ball back outside to Godbey after being cut-off inside the paint, to give her teammate an open short jumper and the teams’ second basket of the night. The generosity continued for Elkin as junior Ayla Ford fed the ball inside to find an open Baker for two more assists and two more inside baskets for the Elks. When the defense began to collapse on Baker in the paint, Ford took the opportunity to find nothing but net from behind the arc to score her first three of the game. Junior Alla Summers posted her first points of the game with a breakaway layup after nabbing a steal while freshman Alyssa Jenkins added a free throw to give the Elks 14 points in the first quarter. But not to be discounted, the Rams continued to battle and found success of their own when both Abby Moxley and Carley Money found the net from behind the arc to post threes for the Rams. Maggie Ray attempted to score on the inside, drawing two different fouls from the Elks, but was unable to convert her free throws. With Baker already in foul trouble and forced to the bench, Ray did connect on one inside basket to pick up a couple of points for her team. Molly Swaim also made a drive to the basket, drew a foul and made both of her free throws count for the Rams. The first quarter ended with a score of 14-10, in favor of Elkin, but with Summers and Baker already in foul trouble with two fouls each, a total of six fouls assessed to the Elks and only three to the Rams.
With the second quarter of play underway, the momentum definitely swung from the Elks to the Rams. Early in the second quarter, with the Rams continuing to drive the ball inside, Baker picked up her third foul and was forced back to the bench, essentially silenced for the remainder of the first half of play. Ray was able to take advantage and picked up two more inside baskets as well as two free throws. Madison Cox grabbed her only basket of the game while Swaim made good on both an inside basket and a long three, giving the Rams 13 points for the quarter. On the other hand, the Elks struggled to find the net. Ford added one free throw and a short jumper while junior teammate Trinity Dowell found the net from the outside. Summers and senior teammate Macy Lane both added a point from the charity stripe, giving the Elks 7 points for the quarter. Both teams headed to the locker room with the Rams up by only a basket, with a score of 21-23.
In the third quarter, Elkin came out determined to show the intensity that they had started the game with. But almost immediately, Baker was called for her fourth foul while standing straight up against a drive by Money, sending the frustrated center, once again, back to the bench. Money, who was sent to the charity stripe on two occasions in the third quarter, made good on three of her four free throws. She also added an outside three to help build her teams’ momentum and lead. Ray picked up a short jumper while Swaim made two free throws after missing a couple. For the Elks, Godbey picked up a basket while Ford found her second long three of the game. Summers made good on the second of two free throws, giving the Elks six points for the quarter and bringing the score to 27-33.
In the final quarter of play, Ford found herself open on the outside and picked up her third and fourth threes of the game while Dowell hit a short jumper giving the Elks 8 points for the quarter. But the Elks foul trouble would not end as Baker and Summers both picked up their fifth and final fouls in the closing quarter. The Rams, who received 28 trips to the charity stripe, as compared to 10 attempts by the Elks, added four points in the last quarter from the free throw line. Moxley and Swaim both hit long threes while teammate Money found a basket on the inside. The Rams were able to increase their lead by outscoring the Elks 8-12 in the fourth quarter, ending the game at 35-45.
Hoping to turn their poor foul luck around, the Elks traveled to Alleghany High School on Friday evening. The Trojans took the first point of the game, the second of two free throws hit by Ellie Crouse. The Elks were slow to score, their first basket a three by Ayla Ford did not come until 1:30 remained in the opening quarter. But it gave the Elks the lead, which they would hold for the remainder of the half. After a couple of quick turnovers by the Trojans, Ford found herself on the free throw line after being fouled while taking a shot from behind the arc. Ford missed her free throws but Presley Baker managed to grab an offensive rebound, take one dribble and put the ball back into the basket. She was fouled on the play and added a point for her team with the plus one free throw. Ford made a steal on the very next play and was fouled while bringing the ball upcourt, sending her back to the free throw line. This time she made good on the first free throw and although she missed the second, she was able to grab her own long rebound giving the Elks another opportunity to score. Unable to score, the first quarter ends with the Elks up 7-1.
Sarah Bare ignited some energy into her team with a quick drive to the basket. She missed her shot but was sent to the charity stripe where she hit both of her free throws. On the other end of the floor, Ford reciprocated with a drive to the basket, adding two points for the Elks. Lily Carrillo made short work of the Elks’ press and dribbled from coast to coast for an easy layup to score two for the Trojans. After exchanging turnovers on both ends of the court, the Trojans’ Amelia Annas finds the basket when the Elkin defense gets beat on an inbounds play. But the Elks quickly rebound as freshman Mavery Renegar finds Ford wide open on the wing and Ford hits her second three of the game. But the Trojans have an answer as Crouse hits the first three of the game for Alleghany. The Elks last point of the first half comes from Alyssa Jenkins as she hits the first of two free throws. Although the Trojans outscore the Elks for the quarter, the teams head to the locker room with Elkin still in the lead, 13-10.
The third quarter proves to be the strongest for the Trojans and a back and forth battle between the two teams. Bare brings the Trojans to within one point with an inside basket. A layup by Abby Bottomley puts the Trojans in the lead but Ford quickly answers with a three point shot, putting the Elks back up by two. Annas immediately hits a short jumper, tying the score at 16-all. A free throw from Baker put the Elks back on top by a point, but only for a few moments as Bare hit a short jumper from the wing to give the lead back to the Trojans. Bare increases the Trojan lead to three, after taking a steal and scoring on a breakaway layup. Two free throws by Ashtyn Godbey pushed the Elks back to within one point but Carillo took the Trojan lead right back to three points with an uncontested drive into the lane after beating the Elks’ pressure defense. Baker keeps the Elks close with a turnaround hook shot from inside the paint and the quarter ends the Trojans’ 12-8 run, giving them the lead with a score of 21-22.
In a bizarre quarter of play, the fourth period turns into a scrappy foul fest as the officials blow their whistles 17 different times to assess a foul call. A coast to coast drive by Summers put the Elks back on top to kick off the quarter and to give the Elks the lead. Renegar hits a long three to increase the lead to four points but Bare reciprocates for the Trojans, keeping the score within one point. Ford finds Baker open under the basket and then Baker hits a free throw on the next play to increase the Elk lead back to four points. However, a free throw by Carillo and a three-pointer from Cita Gonzalez ties the score at 29-all with only a little more than 3 minutes left in regulation play. In a very strange and peculiar turn of events, Elkin player Alla Summers was forced to exit the game after the home team statistician alerted the officials that she had 5 fouls, as she was being subbed into the game after the first of two free throws had been taken by Alleghany. She had not committed a foul, as she was being subbed in on a dead ball. The officials held up play for over six minutes as they tried to sort out the issue. The Elkin statistician only showed four fouls but ultimately the officials declared that the home book was the official book. Visibly frustrated, Summers flailed her arms, brushing the official’s arm as she left the court and was assessed a technical foul. Bare made her remaining free throw from the original foul that was assessed to Baker and made one of the two technical free throws to put the Trojans ahead by two points. After a Trojan turnover, Alyssa Jenkins made two free throws for the Elks to tie the game for the third time. A three-pointer by Jenkins on the next trip down the court would give the Elks the lead for the final time. Fortunately for the Elks, the Trojans only made 4 of 11 free throws in the final quarter and the game ended with the Elks ahead, 37-32.
Elkin: 14 7 6 8 35
Trinity Dowell 4, Ashtyn Godbey 4, Presley Baker 6, Alla Summers 4, Ayla Ford 15, Molly Stevens, Alyssa Jenkins 1, Mavery Renegar, Macy Lane 1, Lauren Norman
Starmount: 10 13 10 12 45
Anna Stewart, Maggie Ray 10, Abby Moxley 7, Mackenzie Cox, Carley Money 11, Emma Caudle, Claire Vanhoy, Molly Swaim 15, Madison Cox 2, Payton Howell, Isabel Romero
Elkin: 7 6 8 16 37
Trinity Dowell, Ashtyn Godbey 3, Presley Baker 9, Alla Summers 2, Ayla Ford 9, Molly Stevens, Alyssa Jenkins 10, Mavery Renegar 4, Macy Lane, Chloe Bell, Julissa Harper-Teodoro
Alleghany: 1 9 12 10 32
Vanessa Martinez, Cita Gonzalez 4, Lily Carillo 5, Abby Bottomley 2, Sarah Bare 13, Cora Collins, Layla Turner, Amelia Annas 4, Paula Martinez, Ellie Crouse 4, Amberlyn Joines
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