By CHARLES PENDELL
charles.pendell@mcleansborotimesleader.com
HARRISBURG — Outside, a blanket of snow fell. Inside Davenport Gym, the house — the house, the house — was on fire.
Riding a five-game win streak, Hamilton County didn’t waste much time in gaining control of its Class 2A regional opener Monday night. The Lady Foxes outscored the host Lady Bulldogs 26-7 in the first quarter en route to a 60-43 win.
In addition to scorching the nets, the Lady Foxes picked up 10 steals in the opening frame.
“That may have been the best first quarter I have watched in quite a while,” Lady Fox coach Clint Winemiller said. “We played real well and we were very aggressive on defense. We talked about coming out right from the beginning, but I didn’t think we would come out like that ... It was kind of like the house was on fire.”
Harrisburg trimmed its deficit to 30-20 with four minutes left in the first half, but the Lady Foxes caught fire again and were up 38-20 at the half.
“We let them make a little run at us, but we ended the quarter really strong,” Winemiller said. “In the past, we haven’t ended the quarters very strong, but we’ve got the kids believing now that when they show up that good things are going to happen.”
Hamilton County’s advantage grew to 45-22 with 3:43 left in the third quarter; the Lady Foxes were up 51-30 at the third-quarter stop.
With their sixth straight win, the Lady Foxes ran their record to 17-11.
Laci Laughard led three Lady Foxes in double figures with 16 points; Sarah Scott added 13 points and Emma Moreton 12. Moreton also had eight steals.
Cathy Martin scored eight points, Alexis York five and Natalie Anselment, Krystal Knight and Veronica Gay two each for the Lady Foxes.
Hamilton County played Vienna, the top seed in the regional, in the regional semifinals on Tuesday night.
