By Sports editor Brian Hoffman
The William Byrd girls’ basketball team improved to 3-1 with wins over Hidden Valley and Northside in the past week. The Terriers have now played all four Roanoke County opponents one time each.
The Terriers only loss thus far was at Cave Spring last Wednesday, 49-38. Byrd led for much of the first half before the Knights made a run to take the lead. Cave Spring then went on to win, hitting 10 three-pointers for the game.
“We competed hard,” said coach Brad Greenway. “I thought we had a good plan for the second half, but Cave had other plans. We just couldn’t keep up with them offensively. Sometimes you tip your hat when someone has a better night and this was one of those times.”
Emilie McCaskill led Byrd with 13 points and Sophia Chrisley had 10.
On Friday night in Vinton the Byrd girls downed Hidden Valley, 42-14. Byrd had six three-pointers, including three by Chrisley, two by Gretta Walls and one by Ashlyn Stover.
“We were able to play all of our players and get some younger players in there for good minutes while resting some of our players we usually depend on for 30 minutes a night,” said Greenway. “Hidden Valley played hard, I give their coaching staff and players credit despite the score. Their time will come.”
On Monday at Northside the girls completed the county round robin with a 46-30 win over the Vikings. Byrd trailed 20-19 at the half but outscored the Vikings, 27-10, after intermission.
“We made a couple adjustments at halftime to what we were doing on both ends and it just seemed like a light bulb came on for us,” said Greenway. “We played a stretch of basketball that was probably the best we’ve had in this short season so far.”
Chrisley led the Terriers in points with 14 and McCaskill put in 11 on a bad leg.
“There were a lot of positives outside of just what shows up on the stat sheet,” said Greenway. “I’m really proud of how we finished that game after a tough start.”
Byrd was at Glenvar Wednesday but results were too late for publication. The girls are off Friday, returning to the hardwood Monday to host Cave Spring. Next Wednesday Byrd is at Hidden Valley and February 5 is Senior Night at home against Northside.
