ALEXANDRIA — It’s no secret Williamsburg is a small school, but this season, its girls basketball team is blessed with much more depth than usual.

The Lady Blue Pirates have been excellent over the past decade, making a pair of PIAA semifinals and winning a District 6 Class 1A championship in 2023.

But it could be argued none of those teams had as many options as this year’s squad thanks to an influx of talented freshmen.

“We have had players coming up from our junior high who are helping us have a really great start to the season,” Williamsburg senior LeeAnna Royer said. “Everyone is confident, and we have scorers at all five of our positions the whole game.”

That depth proved too much for Juniata Valley — which dressed only seven players — on Thursday in a 63-39 Williamsburg triumph.

“The season has been going pretty well,” Williamsburg coach Angela Detwiler said. “I have been getting a lot from a lot of different players. We have been rotating girls in. (Freshman) Faith (Detwiler) rolled her ankle, so she couldn’t play tonight, but because we have been rotating players in, the kids we had out there are used to it and playing together.”

It wasn’t the first injury the Lady Blue Pirates have dealt with over the past year.

“We had a really rough summer,” Coach Detwiler said. “Vada (Gorsuch), LeeAnna and Bella (Royer) were all injured around the same time, and we had a few players get sick. We had to figure out how to guard the post without Vada out there. We had to rotate other girls into the point position. It was rough, but I really felt like our team grew. They came back and got to play with girls that had a lot of growth from the summer.”

After Williamsburg dominated the first quarter and took a 17-4 lead by forcing nine Juniata Valley turnovers, Anna Taylor’s three-point play with 6:41 to play in the third quarter cut the Lady Pirates’ lead to 31-21.

On the play, Gorsuch picked up her third foul and came out of the game — but rather than let the Lady Hornets get closer, Williamsburg was able to pull away with baskets from Bella Royer, LeeAnna Royer and Regan Prough while holding Juniata Valley scoreless for nearly three minutes until Taylor hit a 3-pointer to end the run.

“When someone is in trouble, we can bring someone in,” LeeAnna Royer said. “It’s really nice to have someone come in and there’s no big drop off.”

Mazzy Hartman’s layup with 2:28 to play in the third got Juniata Valley back within 12, but a 13-0 run by Williamsburg that carried over into the fourth quarter put the game away.

“We were playing from behind right from the beginning because of all the turnovers,” Juniata Valley coach Liz Radabaugh said. “We weren’t taking good care of the ball. Their defense is so quick and fast that they seemed to be everywhere.”

Taylor, who had 13 points and 14 rebounds, attributed the slow start to nerves.

“I think Williamsburg is a very intimidating team,” Taylor said. “Coming into games against them, we need to remember that we’re a good team too. We can’t be afraid to face these challenges. We have to be ready as soon as the ball tips.”

Juniata Valley (8-4) made just eight turnovers the rest of the game after the disastrous first quarter.

“We put in the effort in the second half and got the nerves out,” Radabaugh said. “We hustled more in the second half and didn’t have as many rushed passes. We play better when we slow things down and see the court better and looking for the open person.”

Williamsburg, which improved to 12-1, got 16 points from LeeAnna Royer and 16 points and 12 rebounds from Gorsuch.

WILLIAMSBURG (63): R. Prough 1 0-0 2, L. Royer 6 3-4 16, Gorsuch 8 0-4 16, Lower 4 1-3 9, B. Royer 2 2-2 7, Colbert 3 0-0 9, Alexander 1 1-2 4, M. Prough 0 0-0 0, Parks 0 0-0 0, Houck 0 0-0 0. Totals — 25 7-15 63.

JUNIATA VALLEY (39): Fouse 1 0-0 2, Walters 4 0-0 9, Anderson 2 1-2 5, Taylor 5 2-3 13, Hartman 4 0-3 8, Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals — 17 3-8 39.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Williamsburg 17 12 20 14 — 63

Juniata Valley 4 12 11 12 — 39

3-point goals: Williamsburg 6 (Colbert 3, L. Royer, B. Royer, Alexander); Juniata Valley 2 (Walters, Taylor).

Records: Williamsburg (12-1); Juniata Valley (8-4).

Officials: Justin Fraker, Keith Redfoot, Klayton Heffner.