A 17-day layoff wasn’t enough to derail Mount Airy’s hopes of a conference championship.
The Lady Bears are currently riding a four-game winning streak, which is the team’s longest since starting the 2019-20 season 6-0. Despite having their fair share of injuries, Mount Airy’s girls continue to find ways to win and are now 7-0 in the Northwest 1A Conference.
Mount Airy had a break of more than two weeks immediately following a January 7 win over North Stokes. Things picked back up for the Lady Bears on Jan. 24 when the team faced back-to-back road games.
Mount Airy started back up with a game at Alleghany (1-12, 0-6 NW1A). Morgan Mayfield and Alissa Clabo combined to outscore the Trojans on their own, with Mayfield scoring a team-high 20 and Clabo adding 15. The Bears went on to win 50-30.
A trip to South Stokes put the Bears above .500 overall on the season. Mayfield had 14 in the win and Grey Moore added 11. Sofia Stafford scored 13 second-half points to keep the Bears above water; eventually going on to win 48-40.
Mount Airy played its first home game since Jan. 5 on Friday, welcoming NW1A opponent Starmount to Howard M. Finch Gymnasium.
The Bears went into the game 6-0 in the conference, while the Rams were 5-1. Starmount’s only conference loss came against Mount Airy by a score of 56-45 on December 17.
Defensive adjustments and clutch free throws down the stretch helped Mount Airy overcome a second-half deficit and defeat Starmount 45-40. Mount Airy improves to 8-6 overall and 7-0 in the NW1A Conference.
Starmount’s ability to get to the basket paired with two forwards, Morgan Pinnix and Killian Warren, that could control the offensive glass. Amelia Vanhoy and Emily Brewer each scored six in the first quarter as the Rams built up a 16-7 lead. Mount Airy closed the gap with a late layup from Mayfield and 3-pointer from Moore, her second of the game, just before the buzzer.
Moore hit another 3-pointer with 6:50 left in the second quarter, but it would be the Bears’ only field goal of the period. Both teams struggled to score in the quarter and combined for just 10. The Rams once again scored all their points in the paint, while Mount Airy had three 3-points, three 2-pointers and a made free throw in the first half.
Vanhoy scored the first bucket of the second half after the Rams grabbed two offensive boards. After this, the Lady Bears’ congested the lane on defense to keep Starmount from scoring inside. In fact, Starmount didn’t score at all until Vanhoy went 1-of-2 from the line with 2.4 seconds left in the third.
Mount Airy, meanwhile, spread the floor on offensive and used dynamic passing to create shots. All eight Lady Bear field goals in the second half came off assists.
Kylie Hollingsworth started a 12-0 Mount Airy run by scoring off an in-bounds pass from Moore. The next time down, Clabo hit an elbow jumper off a Stafford pass.
After a long possession, Mayfield rifled a pass across the court to Hollingsworth who quickly put the rock in the Moore’s hands to knocked down a 3-pointer. Moore knocked down her fifth triple of the game when Stafford hit her off a backdoor screen. Finally, a Clabo layup on a Stafford assist with seven seconds left in the third put Mount Airy up 28-24.
Starmount surpassed its third-quarter point total less than two minutes into the fourth. Free throws from Vanhoy and a field goal from Pinnix put the Rams back in the driver’s seat, 29-28.
Starmount knew better than to leave Moore open on the perimeter, but it was three other Mount Airy players that forced the final lead change of the game. Mayfield attacked the basket and dished out to Hollingsworth at the perimeter for a 3-pointer at 5:46. Hollingsworth grabbed an offensive rebound the next time down the court and assisted Mayfield for her first 3-pointer of the game at 5:07.
Warren scored from the low block for Starmount, but then Mayfield assisted a Stafford 3-pointer at 3:46 to give the Bears a 39-31 advantage. The Rams didn’t score again until 2:22 when Pinnix put back an offensive rebound.
Mount Airy ran the clock down to 1:27 until being forced to shoot bonus free throws. Mayfield went 1-for-2 from the line, then Brewer scored the Rams’ only 3-pointer of the night to make it 40-36 with 1:13 to play.
Mayfield made both her attempts from the charity stripe when Starmount fouled to stop the clock, then Clabo got a big steal on defense and gave possession to Moore to be fouled. The rest of the game was free throw shooting, and the Bears made enough to stay alive for the 45-40 win.
Mount Airy holds sole possession of first place in the NW1A Conference with a 7-0 record. East Wilkes, who the Bears beat 65-61 in overtime back in December, sits in second at 6-1 while Starmount is 5-2.
Scoring
SHS – 16, 6, 3, 15 = 40
MAHS– 12, 4, 12, 17 = 45
SHS – Amelia Vanhoy 13, Emily Brewer 9, Morgan Pinnix 8, Killian Warren 6, Layken Mathis 4
MAHS – Grey Moore 17, Morgan Mayfield 10, Alissa Clabo 4, Kylie Hollingsworth 7, Sofia Stafford 3
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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