VINEMONT, Ala.- The 9-3 Vinemont Lady Eagles and their high-powered offense hosted an 8-2 Priceville Bulldogs team with a strong frontcourt on Monday night. One crucial mismatch proved to be the difference, and Priceville came away with a convincing 62-45 victory. The loss dropped Vinemont’s girls to 9-4 on the season.
From the jump, Bulldogs’ senior Abby Langlois was a problem for Vinemont. The 6-1 senior is a multi-sport athlete committed to the University of West Florida to play volleyball, and that background was evident. Within just the first four minutes she’d blocked a shot, grabbed a couple rebounds, dished out an assist and made three trips to the free throw line, sinking all six attempts.
Vinemont struggled to score in the first quarter, especially from outside. The Bulldogs’ perimeter defense was stout, and nearly every time the ball made it inside, Langlois or power forward Amidy Wilder wound up with a block and/or a rebound. A few layups did fall for the Lady Eagles, though, one of them belonging to guard Arleigh Thomason who also hit a three to close the first quarter for Vinemont down 19-9.
In the second quarter, the size differential between the two teams became even more glaring. After she’d end up fouled on all her attempts in the first, Langlois got the ball fed to her in the paint on most Bulldog possessions in the second period. She made nearly all of her attempts this time, though. Despite multiple lineup changes by Vinemont head coach Emme Willoughby, Langlois went on to score 14 in the second quarter.
The interior was still off-limits in the second, but Vinemont finally got some shots to start falling from deep. The Lady Eagles had four three-pointers scored by four different players in the period, with Reagan Robinson, Caroline Miller, Vayda Yarbrough and Thomason all hitting from beyond the arc. Despite that, the offense still lacked rhythm and they went into halftime down 40-23.
Opening the second half, Vinemont went on a tear to make things interesting. Back-to-back buckets put Priceville up 45-23, but it was the last time they’d score for nearly four minutes. The Lady Eagles, behind some scrappy defense leading to breakaways, a seven point stretch from Robinson and some missed free throws on the other end, went on a 15-0 run to bring them within seven.
Priceville’s frontcourt got shots to begin falling, though, and answered with a 9-2 stretch to put the lead back at 54-40 heading into the final quarter.
After an inspired effort in the third, the game closed out in similar fashion to how it opened, with efficiency in the paint on both ends from the Bulldogs. Priceville went on to cap off a 62-45 victory behind a game-high 31-point performance from Langlois. Leading Vinemont was Robinson, whose big third quarter fed into a 17-point game from the senior.
Vinemont gets a chance to bounce back tomorrow night, as they host 6-6 Cold Springs at 6:15 p.m.
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