First loss for the ladies

By ZENDA FARRELL | Milton Independent Sports Writer

Heather Little reaches for the ball against the Lady Lancers of Lamoille on Saturday. Milton won 60 - 45. Photo by Greg Lamoureux.

The Ladyjackets suffered their first loss in an otherwise perfect season last Tuesday. At a home game against South Burlington, the Rebels secured a 31-28 win by sinking a pair of foul shots late in the fourth quarter.

Brittany Rice led Milton with six points.

Coach Mike Lefebvre feels that, although the team played good defense, their shooting was off. “We had lots of good scoring opportunities but we just couldn't convert,” he said “We just came off a long stretch with no games and our foul shooting was way below normal. We only shot 6 for 16 from the foul line. We played hard; we just weren't sharp but it won't hurt us in the long run. We held South Burlington to 31 points and we get to play them again this year. I'm really looking forward to that!”

Undaunted, the Ladies went on to down Mount Mansfield 47-34 on home court Thursday night. Courtney Pidgeon was instrumental in the victory with 16 rebounds and 8 steals. B rittany Rice and Ashleigh Adams led Milton in scoring with 10 points each. Rice added eight rebounds and three assists. Lauren Ball chipped in 9 rebounds and 6 points.

“We played a lot better for this game but we still weren't as good as I think we had been playing,” said Lefebvre. “Courtney had a monster game and this was key because our shooting was still off a little so the rebounds and steals picked up the game for us. MMU is a good team and they played hard.”
At Hyde Park on Saturday, Milton dominated the 9-2 Lamoille Lancers 60-45 with 20 points coming from Brittany Rice. Pidgeon added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Kaitlin Geary posted 11 points. Andrea Deuel set up the offense with 6
assists.

“At Lamoille we played much better. We were trailing 9-2 early in the game but we fought our way back. The girls kept their poise and composure; offensively we executed a good percentage of foul shots and shots from the floor and our defense was all over the court. We have played Lamoille twice now and in the first game, we had 2 other players score in the double digits. Except for the South Burlington game, we always have one or two players picking the team up. That makes us a hard team to defend because we have good balance and depth with at least 7 or 8 players who can step up and take control. Everybody on the team always plays good defense as well and that is key,” concludes Lefebvre.

The Ladyjackets will travel to Harwood with a record of 7-1 for a 1 p.m. game this coming Saturday.

Go Milton!

Varsity girls' basketball coach Mike Lefebvre congratulates his team after their 60-45 win over Lamoille. Photo by Greg Lamoureux.