The Mathews High School girls’ varsity basketball team picked up a much-needed win on the road last Thursday against Washington and Lee, 50-23. The following night, the MHS squad hosted its AAA neighbors from Gloucester, falling to the Dukes, 45-23.

Against W&L, Mathews jumped out to a commanding first-quarter lead, extending the margin to 30-9 by halftime. Head coach Allie Robins was able to substitute freely throughout the game and was pleased with the team’s overall performance as her Lady Devils played their best game of the season.

Every Mathews player found their way onto the scorebook, led by Bailey Kujawski, Jessie Nelson, Taylor South and Kai McCann with six points each, followed by Shelby Ware with five points. Savannah Wooten, Whitney Eriksen and Emily Brown added four points each, Shanice Williams chipped in three points and Lexus Walton, Hannah Rowe and Taylor Denton rounded out the scoring with two points each.

Coming home late from the long bus ride the previous night, the girls didn’t have any time to celebrate their victory as the Lady Dukes of Gloucester came to town on Friday. Mathews couldn’t repeat its intensity and execution against the bigger and faster AAA team. Mathews took an early lead in the first quarter until the Lady Dukes’ offense started pulling away. Gloucester took a 25-11 lead into the half, but Robins was still upbeat about the Blue Devils’ chances.

"A couple of late second-quarter missed layups and blown defensive assignments was the difference in the first half," Robins said during the halftime break.

However, any chances the home-standing Blue Devils had were quickly put to rest in the third period as Gloucester returned to the court a different team. Gloucester slowly grew the lead in the third quarter, winning by a 22-point margin.

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