The Mathews High School varsity girls’ basketball team opened up the season on Monday, suffering a tough loss on the road against New Kent, 41-33.

Stacie Thomas led the way for the Lady Devils with 13 points. Abbie Hudgins scored seven points and Joice Small added five. Rounding out the scoring for Mathews were Zayle Darby (three points), Kayla Carr and Isabella Hudgins (two points each) and Sarah Ashbaugh (one point).

“We got down early, at one point 14-0, but the girls battled back and went on a 9-2 run to go into halftime down, 16-9,” coach C.K. Ambrose said. “These girls had no quit in them. They battled back and took the lead at one point of the game and it was a back-and-forth game until the end.

“I was extremely proud of the way the girls responded to being down early,” Ambrose added. “They kept fighting to the end and gave themselves an opportunity to win the game against a good team. I saw a lot of good things to build on and I’m excited to see what this group can do...