By Allen Hamrick
The Lady Mustangs were all in for basketball this past week, taking the gold out of the tooth against both Richwood and Walton. They have proven they can belly up to the basketball bar and go on a feeding frenzy. They took Richwood on early in the week on the road – it was a great game if you like watching a team being stomped on like grapes in a barrel. Both teams opened on the hoop early in the game and were racking up points going hoop for hoop. Vanessa Cleavenger was getting the job done in no man’s land under the hoop, earning six points for the Lady Mustangs. The Lady Mustang defense kept the floors hot and scrambling by not letting the Richwood girls take a breather. With a full court press, the Lady Mustangs must have felt like a straight jacket to Richwood as getting points after the first period was as difficult as catching a two legged catfish. In the end, it was the Lady Mustangs over Richwood with a score of Lady Mustangs 52, Richwood 20. Top shot hoop leader was Vanessa Cleavenger with 12 points in the game, followed closely by Marissa Atha with nine.
Next up for the Lady Mustangs was the Walton Lady Tigers who came into the game looking like they were going to give the Lady Mustangs a game, but looks can be and often are deceiving. When the game started, Walton should have warmed up the white towel as the Lady Mustangs went to work on the full court press. A Lady Mustang full court press is like running into a yellow jacket nest with a wet chicken tied to your back. Those Lady Mustangs look like they could stop the flow of the river with their defense. Marissa Atha, Autumn Rapp and Gracie Cottrell destroyed any offense Walton tried to muster. The Lady Mustangs were racking up points under the boards with a great display of text book basketball. By the time the mercy buzzer sounded at the half, the Lady Mustangs were already up by the score of 29-4. After that, the game turned sour for Walton as the Lady Mustang defense went to work and never allowed another Walton shot to grease the net. In the end, it was the Lady Mustangs over Walton by the score of 47-4. The Lady Mustangs will take their show on the road to South Harrison where they will have to play solid basketball to win. Go Lady Mustangs!
The Clay Middle Mustangs have had the same kind of week as the Lady Mustangs – in your face basketball, the kind of games where you just want to sit back with popcorn and a box of M&Ms and add a couple of pounds to the mid section. The Mustangs took to the court with a whipping stick and started hitting the hoops against Richwood on the road. Scoring started off slow but eventually got rolling as the Mustangs found the ducks on the rim. Richwood boys kept a good pace but let the game get away from them as Mustang defense got busy blocking the boards. In the end it, was the Mustangs over Richwood 36-22. Collin Elliott was top shot with 10 points.
Next up was Walton at home where Mustang defense took control and shut down the hoop for Walton as the Mustang offense got to work racking up points. Afterwards, the Mustang defense let up their hard nose play, gave Walton a brief look at the hoop and allowed them an early Christmas present of dropping 10 points before the half. Offense kept up the pace, and at the end of the half, it was Mustangs 33, Walton 10. It looked as though the basketball game would head to the emergency room for Walton as it went downhill from there. That was it – Walton couldn’t match the Mustangs hoop for hoop the rest of the game, and the Mustangs won 59 to 14. Collin Elliot was top shot hitting for 16. The boys will be at home this week against the powerhouse South Harrison on Dec. 17. It may just be the first taxing test of their skills. Come out and support the athletes of all sports and cheer them on; it just might be the cure for the cold weather blues.
