Walton Girls Upset Etowah, Boys Win Handily

’s varsity basketball teams defeated Etowah Tuesday at Etowah High School, with the boys winning by 19 points and the girls upsetting the seventh-ranked Lady Eagles 47-40.

The Lady Raiders were 7-7 for the season and 1-2 in the region going into Tuesday's matchup with Etowah, which had a 13-2 season and 4-0 region record on the line.

Looking at an early Etowah 7-4 lead in the first period, Sarah Durdaller scored Walton’s first four points with a bucket and back-to-back free throws. Rachel Gibson sank a 3-pointer and Hayley McDonough added two to give the Lady Raiders a 9-7 lead at the end of the period.

Durdaller and Gibson added five and four points, respectively, in the second period to give their team a 20-11 lead at halftime. Durdaller scored six of her 15 points, including two more back-to-back free throws in the third, and Gibson put in two of her four points at the buzzer to put the Lady Raiders up 32-24 at the end of the period.

Etowah, which had trouble getting shots to fall in the first three periods, came alive in the fourth and outscored Walton 9-5 in the first five minutes. But Gibson added five more of her team-leading 16 points to keep the Lady Eagles at bay. Jayme Astarita chipped in four of her eight points in the fourth to help keep her team ahead, and Hannah Patterson sank three free-throws in the fourth.

Walton’s girls were 7-7 coming into the game and 1-2 in the region, and coach Karen Duncan was understandably delighted to take the win against Etowah, ranked seventh in the state.

“We’re getting better, we’re much improved,” said Duncan. “We’ve had injuries and mishaps with starters not playing, and young players were stepping up. They had to do it quicker than we would have liked."

“Defensively, we did what we were supposed to do and followed the game plan to give us a chance. We took care of the basketball with their pressure, and (Etowah is) a good team. The whole game was a highlight.”

Walton’s boys trailed 13-12 at the end of the first period but blew it open in the second period to lead 35-25 at the half. The previously 9-5 Raiders, who were 2-1 in the region, had balanced scoring in the second with seven points from Karl Cochran, five from Lanerryl Johnson, and four each from John Gibson and Rico Overall.

Repeated fast breaks helped coach Joe Goydish’s team dominate the Eagles, who came into the game with a 4-11 season record and were 0-4 in the region.

Walton added two points to its lead to finish the third period up 54-42 and opened up in the fourth with 16 more points to Etowah’s nine.

Cochran led the Raiders with 27 points, Johnson and Overall added nine each. Cochran was hot in the fourth quarter, sinking three 3-pointers.

“We hadn’t played in 11 days, and I was really impressed with the defense,” said Goydish. “I told them they may be rusty offensively, but they can always guard.