With Monticello’s girls team, it’s kind of pick your poison. Fluvanna County chose to pressure and try and lock up the Mustangs’ guards.
So Molly Shepherd took over underneath.
Monticello fed Shepherd all night to the tune of 23 points for the sophomore forward as she set the tone for the Mustangs in a 46-34 victory over the Flucos.
“When she’s making baskets and especially making free throws, it takes a lot of pressure off our guards,” said Monticello coach Josh McElheney. “Fluvanna did a great job of trapping on the guards and we had to find a way to get it inside and get easy baskets because they really limited what we could do tonight.”
Shepherd was nearly flawless from the free-throw line, going 9-for-10 on the night. Meghan Comer and Bridgett Holleran’s squeezed together 13 points between them to bolster Shepherd’s effort, but with the way Fluvanna was playing defense in the backcourt, that tandem had to fight for all 13.
“We gave probably the best team in the district everything that we’ve got,” said Fluvanna coach Chad White. “We wanted to put some pressure on them because we didn’t want give Holleran and Comer open shots. We figured if we’re trapping them than they can’t shoot out of the trap. Our team executed it well.”
Fluvanna got a monster performance of its own from Kiana Childress, who equaled Shepherd’s output with 23 points (including a stellar 11 for 14 from the free-throw line) but the rest of the Fluvanna roster managed just four total field goals with Kate Stutz’s six points the next highest finish.
The two squads were deadlocked at 10-10 after the first quarter, but a strong second frame allowed the Mustangs to establish a lead they never relinquished. Shepherd had nine of her 23 during that stretch.
The Mustangs will host Powhatan Tuesday while Fluvanna tries to bounce back on the road against Charlottesville.
