There were a few storylines to take note of going into this afternoon’s Monroe County Division IV girls’ basketball game featuring the host Batavia Lady Devils and the Honeoye Falls-Lima Lady Cougars.
One, could Batavia avenge a loss to the HF-L earlier this season and hand the Lady Cougars their first league defeat?
Two, could the undersized Lady Devils find a way to prevent 6-foot-1 junior center Teagan Kamm from dominating on both ends of the floor?
And three, could senior guard Mackenzie Reigle find a way to maneuver through and around a defense set up to stop her and running mate Bryn Wormley to score the 16 points she needed to reach 1,000 points in her varsity career?
Well, the answers – in order – are (1) yes, (2) yes, after the opening quarter, and (3) almost.
Getting contributions from eight players, Batavia posted a 55-51 win over HF-L, dropping the Lady Cougars to 6-1 in the league and 6-3 overall.
The Lady Devils’ sixth straight victory puts them at 6-2 in league play and also 6-3 overall.
Reigle scored 15 points – and now has 999 points since being called up to the varsity late in the season as a seventh-grader – and Wormley added 13 for Batavia, but it took clutch baskets by their teammates to put them over the top.
Tess Barone tallied eight points – four during a 9-0 run late in the third quarter that gave the Lady Devils a 37-33 lead – while Kennedy Kolb added seven, Haylee Thornley five, Tianna Rhim four and Rachel Wright three.
Rhim, a junior, made her presence felt in the second half – using her size and strength while matching up with Tamm and enabling Batavia to have success on the defensive boards. Reigle led the way with eight rebounds (to go with her six assists and six steals) while Kolb pulled down six caroms; Rhim and Wormley five each; Barone, Thornley and Wright four apiece, and Bella Houseknecht two.
Kamm led all scorers with 18 but had just eight points after intermission, with the last three coming on a three-point shot with three seconds left. She scored nine of her team’s 10 points in the first quarter.
Batavia led 14-10 after the opening period and HF-L led 22-19 at halftime. The Lady Devils rallied to outscore the visitors 20-14 in the third period for a 39-36 edge.
The Lady Cougars took a 43-42 lead on Kamm’s layup with 5:25 left in the game before Batavia responded to move ahead, 49-44, on an offensive rebound and basket by Rhim, three-pointer by Reigle and layup by Kolb on a nifty assist by Reigle at the three-minute mark. The home team stayed in front the rest of the way.
Reigle sank two free throws and, with 1:09 remaining, drove in for a basket to pull within one of 1,000 points, but she will have to wait for Tuesday night’s home game against Greece Olympia to reach the milestone.
After the game, she seemed to take it all in stride, giving credit to her teammates.
“They (HF-L) are a tough team and played a triangle-and-two to try to stop us (her and Wormley), but the other girls took the shots when they were open and they came through,” Reigle said.
Seniors Olivia Friedlander and Hannah Selke scored nine points each and sophomore Clare Ruff added seven for HF-L, 64-50 winners over Batavia on Feb. 11.
