By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
FAYETTE (December 16, 2024) – Hilltop blew open a tight game in the second quarter with a Libbie Baker-led 12-3 run and went on to beat Fayette 52-34 at Fayette. The Cadets remain unbeaten at 8-0 after the win while the Eagles are 3-4.
“We’ve played a lot of tough games which is only going to help us,” Cadet coach Troy Grime said. “We just have to keep battling and don’t take anything for granted.”
Molly Dickinson led a flurry of first quarter baskets off Eagle turnovers with three scores in transition, and Sophia Crossgrove added two more, including a three-point play to pump Hilltop on top 16-5.
Fayette cut into the deficit in the first 44 seconds of the second. Kelsie Storrs found Erika Fetterman for a layup then tacked on her own steal and score to get Fayette back to 16-9.
However, after a Hilltop timeout, Baker wreaked havoc on the Eagles. First, she zipped an angle pass to Kennedy Bailey for a triple, then went coast-to-coast off a rebound, spun to the rim on a post move and hit a triple in the mug of a Fayette defender to open a 29-14 gap by halftime.
“When things need to get done, Libbie is pretty adamant about it, maybe sometimes too much,” said Grime with a smile. “But that burst in the second quarter opened the game a bit for us.”
The Cadets maintained that margin through the third as Baker countered Storrs six-point with 11 of her own to keep Hilltop up 42-27 heading into the fourth.
Willow Mitchell’s triple chopped the Cadet advantage to 12 early in the fourth but the Eagles got no closer.
Baker scored off an Eleana VanArsdalen dish, and Crossgrove’s six points kept the Eagles from inching closer.
Baker scored a game high 25 while Crossgrove added 13. Storrs had 13 for Fayette. Both teams committed a myriad of turnovers, Hilltop had 23 and Fayette 26.
“We created a lot of turnovers,” Grime stated. “We didn’t finish on a lot of them, they like to get out and go, we had to get back.”
“They aren’t going to quit and it’s a good thing we had that lead at halftime. Kudos to coach (Travis) Arkwright and his girls for keeping at it.”
Hilltop shot 19/36 from the floor while Fayette went 13/38. Both teams play Thursday, Fayette travels to Montpelier while Hilltop hosts Liberty Center.
HILLTOP (52) – Dickinson 7; Routt 2; Baker 25; VanArsdalen 0; Bailey 5; Connolly 0; Crossgrove 13; Totals: 16-3-11
FAYETTE (34) – Schang 9; Mitchell 4; Storrs 13; Gorsuch 2; Fetterman 4; Brown 2; Kunkle 0; Totals: 10-3-5 – 34
HILLTOP 16 13 13 10 – 52
FAYETTE 5 9 13 7 – 34
