George Rogers Clark’s girls basketball team took on Montgomery County in their first of two games against the Lady Indians this week.

The Lady Cardinals entered the game with a seven-game win streak over their 40th District rival. The Lady Indians have struggled early out of the gate this year, entering the game with a 5-9 record. But none of that matters in rivalry games, and that is the mentality Montgomery County showed up with.

GRC’s Kennedy Igo sat out against her former team as she missed her second consecutive game and the Lady Cardinals struggled to get it going early. Montgomery County scored the game’s first points and would hold onto the lead for the entire first quarter, leading GRC 11-7 at the break.

Senior guard Shelbi Wilson helped give the Lady Cards the momentum they needed in the second quarter. Wilson scored seven points in the second quarter, including an and-one layup to give the Lady Cards their first lead of the game, to help settle her teammates down and put GRC in the driver’s seat.

GRC led 24-21 at halftime, but Montgomery County wouldn’t go away. The Lady Cardinals couldn’t push their lead to more than six points in the third quarter, but the final minute of the period swung the momentum their way for the rest of the game.

After scoring four points in the final 45 seconds of the third, GRC held onto their momentum in the fourth quarter.

It was Wilson again who was leading the charge for the Lady Cards, making plays on both ends of the floor to help Clark County outscore the Lady Indians 25-8 in the final period, giving GRC a 68-45 victory over their biggest rival.

Wilson finished with a career-high 20 points in the win, 11 coming in the fourth quarter.

“Shelbi was huge tonight. I’m really glad to see her do well. She’s playing with a lot of confidence. She’s really worked hard on shooting and has been making a lot of shots here lately so we’re really excited for that,” GRC head coach Robbie Graham said. “Shelbi’s a great, great kid and such a leader. She’s not always vocal but she leads by example. She’s the first one diving on the floor, she’s taking charges, her and Kennedy both. I was glad to see that, because going forward, once we get Kennedy back, having that 1-2 punch on the perimeter is going to be great.

“Kudos to some other girls. Erica Berry came in and played hard. Amber Miller gave us probably the best game she’s had. Ciara Byars is young but she played hard. Tyra Flowers played hard for 32 minutes. Brianna Byars picked it up late. It’s contributions from everybody. When somebody goes down its next man up. We can’t whine and cry about it, it’s just got to be next man up.”

The Lady Cards will look to keep their late-game momentum rolling when they travel to Montgomery County for another matchup Friday night. The Lady Cards will kick off a doubleheader with the boys teams at 6 p.m. Friday night.

IGO UPDATE

After missing her second straight game Monday night, Graham said that he doesn’t know when senior guard Igo will be back on the floor for the Lady Cardinals.

“There’s no timetable. She’s working with physical therapists and a trainer right now,” Graham said. “I’m the farthest person from a medical expert. As soon as they tell me she can go, that’s when we’ll go. When she feels like it and when they feel like she’s ready.”