By BILL DAVIS
News Sports Editor
DANVILLE — Sometimes, a final score doesn’t do justice for the two teams involved.
The Utica Redskins girls basketball team went into Danville and defeated the Blue Devils, 77-69.
However, the score doesn’t reflect the dominance that Utica showed for the first half of the game. Nor does it show the resiliency of the Danville girls to mount a comeback and give the hometown fans something to cheer for.
Utica was paced by sophomore Tory Minton, who was fouled seemingly every time she touched the ball. In the first period, Minton torched the Blue Devils with a pair of 3-pointers. After that, she was sent to the free-throw line countless times, where she went 13-for-14 on free throws on her way to a 27-point day.
Minton had 18 points in the fourth period alone.
“I thought all the girls stepped up when they needed to,” said Utica head coach Michelle Snow. “She happened to have the ball in her hands. She knocked down her free throws. I’m very happy with that.”
Utica attacked the basket early, lulling the Blue Devils into believing it would be a game played in the paint. But the Redskins then started shooting — and hitting — from the outside, going 3-for-6 early on from three-point range. By the end of the period, Utica held a 20-6 lead.
