Story and Photos by Kailee Means
The Clarkrange Lady Buffaloes defeated Van Buren 63-51 Tuesday night.
The Lady Buffaloes battled hard, as they outscored Van Buren 34-23 in the first half and 29-28 in the second half. The Clarkrange defense held the visitors to single-digits in both the second and third quarter as well.
“We played solid,” said Clarkange head coach Lamar Rogers. “Van Buren has got a good team and Layla Bouldin is a good player. We did what we needed to and overall, I think we shot the ball well. We have to keep working on our defense and we still make some mistakes we shouldn’t be, but overall, every win, we can get better.”
For the Lady Buffaloes, sophomore Addy Stowers led with 20 points, junior Kacey Sells had 19 points and junior Lauren Choate added 13 points.
The Lady Buffaloes host Gordonsville at 6 p.m. Friday night in a district matchup.
The Clarkrange Buffaloes lost to Van Buren Tuesday night 77-61.
The Buffaloes continued to battle throughout the game, despite struggling at both ends of the floor in the first half. Van Buren out scored Clarkrange 46-23 in the opening frames, but the Buffaloes fought back and outscored the Eagles 38-31 in the second half.
“We are a better second-half team than a first-half team,” said Clarkange head coach Jermaine McElvain. “We’ve got to have effort from all around from the first horn to the last horn, and we did not have any effort offensively and defensively (in the first half).. We went to halftime and made some adjustments, and we came out in the second half and gave a lot more effort.”
For the Buffaloes, senior Evan Cantrell led with 19 points, while fellow senior Connor LaRue had 15 points. Sophomore Kris Beaty added 13 points, and junior Case Cordell scored 10 points.
The Buffaloes are looking for their first district win Friday night as they host Gordonsville.
“We know Gordonsville is going to be a tough team,” said McElvain. “We are finally putting together the x’s and o’s on the way the game of basketball is supposed to be played. That is our biggest downfall is that we are learning how basketball is supposed to be played, learning what not to do and it is one of those growing pains…I feel like in the end, Gordonsville is going to pay off and the next game after that will pay off, but we’re obviously hoping to get our first district win Friday night against Gordonsville.”
