The William Byrd girls broke open a close game with a strong fourth quarter and went on to defeat Alleghany in a Blue Ridge District basketball game last Friday. The Terriers took a 59-43 win in Vinton.

“We won every quarter in a game that was pretty close for the first three quarters, which tells me there was no let-up in our game,” said coach Brad Greenway. “We competed the whole game and I was proud of the way we bounced back like that after a tough Northside loss.”

Alleghany came out shooting really well, hitting five threes in the first half. Byrd held a 35-26 lead at the half but the game wasn’t a rout by any means.

“They had their post player finishing inside, and with her size there isn’t much you can do with her once she gets the ball,” said Greenway. “ We were able to keep the ball out of her hands a little better in the second half and they cooled off a little bit with their shooting.”

Byrd led 43-33 after three quarters and outscored the Mountaineers 16-10 in the fourth to put it away.

“Alleghany never gave up, and after all they’ve been through with the loss of their coach the first week of the season, that says a lot about them,” said Greenway, referring to long-time Alleghany coach Danny Keene, who was killed in a car accident just before the season.  “I respect those girls a lot for what they’ve done this year in honor of Danny.”

Megan Grant had a big game for Byrd with 14 points and seven rebounds.  Briona Hurt had her best game of the year with 13 points and nine boards in the post, and Kat Stanley had another strong game with 15 points.

Now 8-2, the Terriers were weathered out of a game with Lord Botetourt on Tuesday. The game was rescheduled for Wednesday, but results were too late for publication.

On Friday Byrd is at Rockbridge, and Greenway is hoping to get point guard Jacy Marvin back for that one. Marvin has missed the entire season so far with a knee injury