Lady ’Cats fall to visiting Fayetteville
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Though the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats played one of their best quarters and games of the season on Monday night, the Fayetteville Lady Rockets were too strong for them to overtake in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference game, losing by a 67-27 score.
Even though the Lady ’Cats lost by a 40-point margin, they continued to improve their overall game as the program as it is in a rebuild mode, and according to head coach Steve Smith, the Lady ’Cats “played their best game of the season.”
That improvement was evident in the first quarter where WHS had possibly their best eight-minute span of basketball this season, scoring 15 points and being tied with their SHAC rival after one quarter of action.
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“We played well, and we shot the ball better,” Whiteoak head coach Steve Smith said. “They played well, but we were outsized, and it is hard to rebound against them (Fayetteville). We don’t have a very deep roster, and we wore down. I was thrilled with how we played. We played harder and didn’t make nearly as many mistakes.
“We shot the ball well, and we boxed out well at times, but it hard to hold (Thompson) out for an entire game. This is the best we’ve played this year, and hopefully we keep getting better.”
In fact, the Lady ’Cats held the lead in the first frame with a 3-2 advantage following a 3-pointer at the 7:02 mark of the quarter from Megan Botts.
Though WHS didn’t hold the lead following a two-point basket from the Lady Rockets, they went from trailing by as many as six points in the first quarter to being tied at 15-15 when the opening eight minutes expired.
After Fayetteville regained the lead at the 6:53 mark of the first, they eventually went ahead by a 7-3 score until WHS hit a jumper from Courtney Gross. After four more points from the Lady Rockets, Whiteoak battled back with a put-back basket from Gross and a long jumper by Hailey Monteith at the 4:28 mark to make it an 11-8 deficit.
The Lady Rockets answered with two points on a layup, but WHS was there with a 3-pointer from Botts with 1:26 left in the first for a 13-12 score in favor of the visitors. Botts totaled three 3-pointers for the Lady Wildcats.
Fayetteville scored two final points in the first with free throws, but with 20 seconds left on the clock, the Lady ’Cats tied the score with a 3-pointer from Cylee Bratton for the 15-15 score.
For the game, WHS totaled six 3-pointers with Botts leading the team in scoring with nine points. Bratton followed with six points, and Monteith totaled five points in the game, including a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Also scoring points for WHS were Gross with four points and Kara Ward, who totaled three points with a 3-pointer in the third quarter.
The following three quarters weren’t so good for the Lady ’Cats as they were outscored 24-0 in the quarter, as turnovers and the size of Fayetteville in the paint were too much for WHS, leaving the score at 39-15 when halftime arrived.
“Megan and Hailey shot the ball better (Monday), and Cylee did a good job fighting for rebounds,” Smith said. “It was a pretty good game by all of them, really.”
The second half wasn’t friendly to the Lady ’Cats on the scoreboard where they 10-5 in the third for a 49-20 deficit after three frames, and in the fourth, WHS added seven points to their total and Fayetteville scored 18 more points.
Fayetteville was led in scoring by Margo Thompson with 20 points, making 10 two-point baskets. Cecilia Murphy followed with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, one two-point basket and she was 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Also for Fayetteville in double figures was Hannah Wiederhold with 11 points. She made three two-point baskets, one 3-pointer and was 2-of-4 from the free-throw line in the win over Whiteoak.
Others to score points for the Lady Rockets were Kelbee Coffman with six points, Taylor Malone with five points, Brinli Crosley with four points, Kasey Wallace with three points and Haley Moore with two points.
Next for WHS is a home game on Thursday, Dec. 21 vs. Westfall in non-conference play.
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In recent games, the Whiteoak Lady ’Cats lost to Manchester (Monday, Dec. 11) by a 71-20 score. In the SHAC loss, WHS was led by Cylee Bratton with 12 points as she made six two-point baskets. Sydnie Raines followed with three points, Courtney Gross and Kara Ward each scored two points and Kayla Jones scored one point in the road loss.
At North Adams on Thursday, Dec. 14, WHS lost by a 69-16 score. In the loss, the leading scorer for the Lady ’Cats was Bratton with five points. Next were Gross with four points, Jones with three points and having two points each were Botts and Monteith.
Even though the Lady ’Cats lost by a 40-point margin, they continued to improve their overall game as the program as it is in a rebuild mode, and according to head coach Steve Smith, the Lady ’Cats “played their best game of the season.”
That improvement was evident in the first quarter where WHS had possibly their best eight-minute span of basketball this season, scoring 15 points and being tied with their SHAC rival after one quarter of action.
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“We played well, and we shot the ball better,” Whiteoak head coach Steve Smith said. “They played well, but we were outsized, and it is hard to rebound against them (Fayetteville). We don’t have a very deep roster, and we wore down. I was thrilled with how we played. We played harder and didn’t make nearly as many mistakes.
“We shot the ball well, and we boxed out well at times, but it hard to hold (Thompson) out for an entire game. This is the best we’ve played this year, and hopefully we keep getting better.”
In fact, the Lady ’Cats held the lead in the first frame with a 3-2 advantage following a 3-pointer at the 7:02 mark of the quarter from Megan Botts.
Though WHS didn’t hold the lead following a two-point basket from the Lady Rockets, they went from trailing by as many as six points in the first quarter to being tied at 15-15 when the opening eight minutes expired.
After Fayetteville regained the lead at the 6:53 mark of the first, they eventually went ahead by a 7-3 score until WHS hit a jumper from Courtney Gross. After four more points from the Lady Rockets, Whiteoak battled back with a put-back basket from Gross and a long jumper by Hailey Monteith at the 4:28 mark to make it an 11-8 deficit.
The Lady Rockets answered with two points on a layup, but WHS was there with a 3-pointer from Botts with 1:26 left in the first for a 13-12 score in favor of the visitors. Botts totaled three 3-pointers for the Lady Wildcats.
Fayetteville scored two final points in the first with free throws, but with 20 seconds left on the clock, the Lady ’Cats tied the score with a 3-pointer from Cylee Bratton for the 15-15 score.
For the game, WHS totaled six 3-pointers with Botts leading the team in scoring with nine points. Bratton followed with six points, and Monteith totaled five points in the game, including a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Also scoring points for WHS were Gross with four points and Kara Ward, who totaled three points with a 3-pointer in the third quarter.
The following three quarters weren’t so good for the Lady ’Cats as they were outscored 24-0 in the quarter, as turnovers and the size of Fayetteville in the paint were too much for WHS, leaving the score at 39-15 when halftime arrived.
“Megan and Hailey shot the ball better (Monday), and Cylee did a good job fighting for rebounds,” Smith said. “It was a pretty good game by all of them, really.”
The second half wasn’t friendly to the Lady ’Cats on the scoreboard where they 10-5 in the third for a 49-20 deficit after three frames, and in the fourth, WHS added seven points to their total and Fayetteville scored 18 more points.
Fayetteville was led in scoring by Margo Thompson with 20 points, making 10 two-point baskets. Cecilia Murphy followed with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, one two-point basket and she was 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Also for Fayetteville in double figures was Hannah Wiederhold with 11 points. She made three two-point baskets, one 3-pointer and was 2-of-4 from the free-throw line in the win over Whiteoak.
Others to score points for the Lady Rockets were Kelbee Coffman with six points, Taylor Malone with five points, Brinli Crosley with four points, Kasey Wallace with three points and Haley Moore with two points.
Next for WHS is a home game on Thursday, Dec. 21 vs. Westfall in non-conference play.
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In recent games, the Whiteoak Lady ’Cats lost to Manchester (Monday, Dec. 11) by a 71-20 score. In the SHAC loss, WHS was led by Cylee Bratton with 12 points as she made six two-point baskets. Sydnie Raines followed with three points, Courtney Gross and Kara Ward each scored two points and Kayla Jones scored one point in the road loss.
At North Adams on Thursday, Dec. 14, WHS lost by a 69-16 score. In the loss, the leading scorer for the Lady ’Cats was Bratton with five points. Next were Gross with four points, Jones with three points and having two points each were Botts and Monteith.