Near Misses
For Lady Hornets
By Laurie-Jean B. Gauthier

It was an "Oh, oh, no" instead of a "Ho, ho, ho" as the Whitcomb Lady Hornets began their holiday break with a disappointing 5 point deficit in a loss to the Craftsbury Chargers in Bethel on December 20. And it was more of the same when they hosted the Chelsea Red Devils two days after Christmas and lost by just 4 points.

Whitcomb started slow but led after three periods against Craftsbury before they shut down, and then they just were not able to get the job done in the fourth while their opponents pulled out the win with their six point quarter tally. At the buzzer it was Craftsbury 31 and Whitcomb 26. Tracy Zisselsberger led all players with 12 points in the outing.

In the Chelsea contest, Whitcomb led by five at the half, 16 to 11 and they held a four point lead entering the final period, 26 to 21, but unfortunately they were unable to hold on and finished in the red down by three 37-34.

With both teams playing hard, it was the Red devils who managed to hoop it up scoring 16 points while the Hornets nabbed 9 in the fast paced final period. And it was the six missed free throw tosses that Whitcomb didn’t sink that allowed Chelsea the win. Red Devils Jill Cray and Robyn Kennedy each had 10 points for game high. Hornets Demi Aldrighetti, Molly Taylor and Tracy Zisselsberger had 8 points, 7 points and 6 points respectively.

In the first game of 2007 the Hornets traveled to Cabot and faced the Huskies on January 4 and once again they led at the half but solid defense by Cabot stopped the Hornets. Entering the fourth quarter Whitcomb found themselves trailing by four points. Husky Julia Gulka led all scorers with 14 points, Abby Nash and Hornet Laurel Adams followed with 12 points each, while Molly Taylor had 9 points for Whitcomb.

The Hornets continue to travel as they play the South Royalton Royals tonight at 5 p.m, travel to Craftsbury on Saturday, Jan. 13 for a rematch against the Chargers at 1 p.m. and then go to Chelsea for another shot at the Red Devils on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

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