Gal Ghosts Face
Tough Teams
By Hannah Becker

The Randolph Lady Ghosts varsity basketball team had a good week, with one win and two losses. The Ghosts defeated Harwood away, while losing to both Hartford and Montpelier at home.

Win at Harwood

The Ghosts traveled to Harwood to face a tough team. The RUHS girls came out really strong in the first quarter, with great defense from Heather Mugford and Hannah Becker. Offensively, they got baskets from Gwen Reis, Ashley Chase, and Katie Jickling. The first quarter ended with the Lady Ghosts up 19-13.

The second quarter was much slower for Randolph. They got tired on defense and slowed down a lot. They also missed easy lay-ups on offense that put them behind Harwood at the half, 28-21. The Ghosts tried something new at halftime to try and break the string of poor third quarters. They came right out of the locker room and went straight into a lay-up drill keeping active during the break. This seemed to work, because the Ghosts played their best of the season in the third quarter.

Randolph came out strong on defense with a full court press, slowing Harwood down and limiting them to only eight points. Randolph’s offense continued to flourish, with baskets from G. Reis, Shayne Reis, Ashley Chase, and Molly Harrness. They didn’t quite make up the difference, but the game was within reach as the quarter ended. Harwood held a mere one-point lead, 37-36. Randolph also limited their turnovers to just one in the quarter.

The Lady Ghosts came out tough in the fourth with a tough press. The offense was still running smoothly as the Ghosts scored 13 points in the quarter. The Ghosts completed the comeback and walked away with a win, 49-44.

Scoring for Randolph were G. Reis with 25, Ashley Chase with nine, Javon Miller with six, S. Reis with four, Jickling and Harrness with two each and Arielle Connolly with one.

Loss vs. Hartford

The Ghosts faced another Division I school at home, playing a tough Hartford squad. The Ghosts came out strong in the first minute with two baskets by G. Reis, but then failed to produce another the entire quarter. On the other side, Hartford was shooting in the bonus with just 1:29 left in the first quarter. The Ghosts were down 12-4 after one.

The second quarter was stronger for the Lady Ghosts with only two fouls due to quicker defense and good boxing out. The Ladies made up a lot of the deficit, scoring 16 to Hartford’s 12. The half ended with the Ghosts down by just four, 24-20.

The third quarter was good for Randolph. They scored 12 points, with baskets from G. Reis, S. Reis, and Becker. But the defense was slow again with seven fouls in the quarter. The third ended with the Ghosts down, 33-39.

Tough defense and good shot selection put the Ghosts right in the game. But the Ghosts couldn’t make up the ground as they fouled another four times. The Ghosts lost the hard-fought match, 57-50. The Ladies’ foul shooting was dismal for the Ghosts as they were only 15-for-33 from the line. The Ladies scored 50 points, their goal for every game, and they played some good defense.

Scoring in the game were G. Reis with 18, S. Reis with eight, Connolly six, Miller and Lyndsay Smith four each, Andrea Chase and Jickling three each, and Becker and Ashley Chase each with two.

Loss vs. Montpelier

The Randolph Lady Ghosts faced Montpelier at home on Tuesday night. The Ghosts came out well in the first quarter. They played great defense, keeping Montpelier from scoring. Neither team scored until there was 4:46 left in the quarter. Montpelier broke the ice only to be answered with a basket from Lyndsay Smith. The Ghosts continued the pace with tough defense ending the quarter on top, 8-4.

The second quarter wasn’t nearly as good for the Ghosts. Montpelier came out with a zone press and Randolph had too many bad passes that turned into points for the Solons. The Ghosts scored 11 points in the quarter with baskets from Becker, G. Reis, and Connolly, but it was nothing to the Solons’ 23 points. The half ended with Randolph down, 27-19.

The third quarter wasn’t any better for Randolph. The third quarter ended with Montpelier up 41-25.

The fourth quarter saw a small comeback for Randolph; at one point they cut the lead to just 10 with baskets from Connolly, Ashley Chase, Jickling, and Miller. But the Ghosts couldn’t finish the comeback, and lost, 53-41.

Scoring in the game were G. Reis with eight, Miller seven, Connolly, Becker and Jickling six each, Smith four, and S. Reis and Ashley Chase with two apiece.

The Ghosts play again on Thursday in Lamoille and Saturday in Oxbow.

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