Lady Demons talk of town after Grant win

Lady Demons are talk of town after district win over cross-town rival Grant

By Wade Holland

Publisher

The Williamstown Lady Demons are the talk of the town today and for good reason.

Flashing its full potential, Williamstown played its best game of the young season in a 56-48 win over cross-town, district-rival Grant Co. The Lady Demons grabbed the lead early in the second quarter, stretched it out to 15, and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

After the game, Williamstown Coach Kasey Mason and her Lady Demons were all smiles.

"I feel like this is the first game we've played where we put four full quarters together," said Mason. "I loved the high intensity level. Especially in the first half, our intensity level on defense created a lot of positive things on the offensive end.

"Tonight is what we expected from the beginning of the season," added Mason. "It's another game we can build on but not get complacent with. Like I told the girls after the game, don't be satisfied with this win just because it's Grant Co. We play again on Friday and we have to get focused and ready to play."

The victory evened the Lady Demons record at 3-3, and put them in the upper half of the Region 8 standings. Williamstown is currently tied with the fourth best record in the region, and one of only eight teams currently at .500 or above.

Junior Rachel Montgomery hits go-ahead shot, finishes with game-high 18 points

Junior Rachel Montgomery (15) put her team ahead for good with a shot in the second quarter and finished with a game-high 18 points.

Williamstown scored the first point of the game on a free throw, but only minutes later found itself down 10-5. But after a timeout, the Lady Demons roared back and ended the first quarter down by only two, 14-12.

Williamstown kept the momentum on its side and took the lead on a shot in the paint by junior Rachel Montgomery in the opening minute of the second quarter. The Lady Demons continued to pour it on, outscoring Grant Co. 15-2 over the first six minutes of the second period to go up by double digits, 27-16, on the way to an eight point halftime advantage, 30-22.

It didn't take long after the intermission for the Lady Demons to go back up by double digits, an advantage they still held going into the final period, 41-30.

Not letting up, Williamstown extended its lead to 15, the largest of the game, just 1:15 into the final period. Grant Co. did cut the lead down to six at 47-41, with 2:48 remaining, but Williamstown hit two quick baskets in a 45-second span to go back up by 10 at 51-41, with two minutes remaining.

The Lady Demons were still up by 10 with just one minute left before a late basket by the visitors cut it to eight, which ended up being the final margin.

Williamstown got points from eight players with no fewer than nine players getting into the game for the Lady Demons, a fact that was very pleasing to Mason in such a big game.

"It's great that we can go that deep into our bench and get girls into the game and them give us good minutes," she said. "And they were all very composed.

"Overall, it was a great team effort," continued Mason. "We had a lot of girls playing within their roles. Like we talked about early in the year, if we play within our roles and understand our roles, we will do some great things."

After playing the first two weeks of the season with multiple players nursing injuries, the Lady Demons appear to be getting healthy. Junior guard Rachel Montgomery, who missed Williamstown's first two games with an injury, led the way against Grant Co. with a game-high 18 points. She scored nine points in each half of the game, including the go-ahead shot in the second period, and a big 3-pointer during the third quarter.

Junior guard Katie Cheek was next for the winners with 11 points to go with five rebounds. Sophomore post player Sydney Taylor, who is working her way back from an injury, came off the bench for a very impressive nine-point, six-rebound effort that also included some big blocked shots.

"Sydney played some great minutes for us tonight," said Mason. "I know she had at least three huge blocks. She is doing a great job of getting a hand on the ball."

Sophomore point guard Michaela Kennedy was heavily guarded by some of the Lady Braves' best defenders, but still managed eight points and eight rebounds, while hitting a momentum-changing 3-pointer for her team in the first period.

Though she had only four points, nobody played a bigger role in the win than Olivia Souder, who finished with 12 rebounds for the Lady Demons. Haley Howe followed with three points, while Justice Chambers chipped in two and Ashely Marksbury one to round out the Williamstown scoring.

Williamstown will be back in action on Friday, December 19, at home to take on Trimble Co.