The Mathews High School varsity girls’ basketball team took time off their holiday break to enter last weekend’s Middlesex Christmas Tournament. The Lady Devils defeated West Point on Friday, falling to Colonial Beach in Saturday’s championships.
Mathews returned to its regular schedule on Monday, easily defeating King and Queen on the road, 58-11 in the team’s first Tidewater District contest.
In the opening round the Devils led from the opening tipoff, pulling ahead 20-5 at the half on the way to a 48-31 victory. Mathews dominated the first half of play, enabling head coach Allie Bridge to get valuable playing time for less experienced players.
Leading Mathews in scoring was Mackenzie Moughon with 10 points. Shelby Ware (eight points) and Kaitlin Eriksen and Taylor Denton (seven points each) also had strong offensive performances. Lindsey Brown added four points while Samera Thomas contributed three and Hannah Rowe, Angela Sale and Emily Brown each added two points. Megan Zeller rounded out the scoring with one point.
For the second year in a row, Mathews faced Colonial Beach in the championship. And for the second year, Mathews fell to the Drifters, this time by a 42-38 margin. In spite of the loss, Mathews played perhaps its most complete game of the season.
Down 16-14 at the half, the Lady Blue Devils battled back to draw even at 24 entering the final quarter. From there, the difference was made at the foul line. Down by five, Mathews was forced to foul late in the game. In the final quarter, Colonial Beach was able to convert 11 of 19 free throws while Mathews only went to the line eight times, converting six.
Coach Bridge was pleased with her team’s effort in the contest, but also pointed out that the squad cannot continue to miss crucial layups and turn the ball over if it wants to be competitive in the district and beyond. Ware and Denton led Mathews with 10 points each while Moughon contributed nine. Eriksen chipped in five points while Sale and Lindsey Brown contributed two each.
In Monday night’s contest against King and Queen, everyone on the roster got into the scorebook for the night, led by Eriksen’s 10 points. Sale and Sydney Morgan scored seven points each. Zeller and Moughon contributed six each, followed by Jessi Nelson, Thomas and Denton with four points apiece. Scoring two points each were Ware, Whitney Eriksen, Emily Brown, Lindsey Brown and Rowe.
Jayvee Devils
The jayvee girls, meanwhile, kept their unbeaten streak going with a 45-20 dismantling of the King and Queen Tigers on Monday. Although their defense wasn’t as steady as past games, Coach Tommy Eriksen was pleased with the overall performance considering the two-week layoff.
Eighth grader Savanna Wooten had the hot hand for Mathews, leading the Blue Devils with 18 points, followed by Taylor South with nine. Rounding out the scoring were Shanice Williams, Shannon Enders, Bailey Kujawski and Kai McCann (four points apiece) and Brittany Mitchem (two points). With the win, the jayvee Devils improved to 8-0.
The varsity girls traveled to Charles City last night. Both the varsity and jayvee teams will host AA York on Friday, with the jayvee game starting at 6 o’clock.