The Fayetteville-Perry Lady Rockets continue to improve, and on Jan. 20 they took the trip east to Wheelersburg for a non-league contest, coming away with a 49-37 victory.
The Lady Rockets trailed 18-16 at the end of the first quarter, but managed to outscore Wheelersburg 7-6 in the second frame to trail by just one, 24-23, heading into halftime break.
The Lady Rockets took control in the second half, rising to a 35-32 lead by the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Rockets went on to outscore Wheelersburg 14-5 in the fourth quarter to secure a 12-point win.
It was freshman Cara Rummel leading the way in scoring for the Lady Rockets with 12 points, sinking six-of-12 attempts from the field. She also pulled down four rebounds and dished out three assists.
Also firing for double figures in the win at Wheelersburg was sophomore guard Scarlett Crawford, who sank four-of-eight shots from the field, including one three-pointer, and buried one free throw to finish with 10 points.
Leading the Lady Rockets on the boards was freshman Christina Murphy with eight rebounds. Murphy also shot for seven points, sinking three-of-six attempts from the field and one-of-two from the charity stripe.
As a team, the Lady Rockets shot 42.6-percent (20-of-47) from the field, 50-percent (five-of-10) from three-point range, and four-of-10 (40-percent) from the foul line in their win over Wheelersburg.
For Fayetteville-Perry head coach Tory Rummel, it’s been fun watching her young Lady Rockets grow.
“It has been fantastic to see the growth and improvements since the beginning of the season and I think it is all happening at just the right time as we prepare for our tournament run,” said Rummel. “What these young Lady Rockets ‘lack’ is experience – they possess an abundance (of) grit, tenacity, and a work ethic that is hard to find these days. The older players have been amazing to show them the way and support a ‘team first’ mentality game after game. The success of the team, as a whole, has been truly a team effort.”
As of Jan. 21, the Lady Rockets were only one game from first place in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference small school division with a 6-3 record in conference play, behind the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats who held a conference record of 7-2.
The Lady Rockets were scheduled to face the West Union Lady Dragons in a SHAC game on the road Jan. 22, and they will take the trip to Eastern High School to face the home standing Lady Warriors in a conference game on Jan. 25.
They will face the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats on Feb. 1 in a league game on the road.