Whiteoak Lady ’Cats win sectional championship
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — A streak that began in 2008 finally came to an end on Wednesday night, as the sectional championship drought concluded with the No. 6 Lady ’Cats defeating the No. 11 seeded Western Latham Lady Indians, 47-30 in the Division IV Sectional Finals held at Whiteoak High School.
The sectional championship is the 14th in program history, with the first coming in 1989, followed by wins in ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06 and ’07.
“It has been a really long time, but it is good for us to get that because it takes the pressure off us because we don’t have to worry about breaking that streak,” WHS head coach Ron Harris said. “I thought we’d be looking more toward next year breaking it, but we are one year ahead of schedule. Now there is more pressure on us because we’ve got to do it again.
“The girls are out here crying, even though we just cut the nets a couple games ago, and it seems that cutting down the nets is something we should be getting used to, seeing the emotion they have. It shows how much it means.”
As for Wednesday in the tournament win, WHS (14-9) trailed 7-5 after the first quarter with Jaylie Parr sinking a 3-pointer and Darby Yeager scoring a basket in the quarter for the Lady ’Cats. Parr led WHS with 13 points for the game.
WHS took the lead in the second quarter with Whiteoak taking a two-point advantage at halftime, 23-21, as they outscored Western, 18-14 in the quarter.
Parr led the second frame for Whiteoak with six points as she made three free throws on three attempts and a 3-pointer.
As WHS tied the score with the first points of the second quarter off a steal and basket from Molly McMullen, they took the lead with two free throws made by Yeager with 7:05 left in the second for a 9-7 lead.
McMullen finished with six points in the win, while Yeager totaled nine points for Whiteoak.
The quarter for Whiteoak also saw Bri Hill score two points, Lydia Carr score one point, Addison Roberts net two points and Brooke Campbell score three points.
Coming out of halftime, the Lady Wildcats saw improvement on their defense, which helped the overall cause in the win, outscoring Western, 12-1 in the third for a 35-22 lead.
“The girls were nervous before the game because they’ve never really had a chance to win one of these things,” Harris said. “I told them it ‘it is good to be nervous because this means something to you,’ and if you are doing something and you aren’t nervous, then you don’t care about what you are going into.
“Last year I don’t think we were nervous because we knew Peebles was going to be very good. I liked seeing us improve, and that’s why there are two halves in basketball. Players like Lydia Carr attacking the basket, that’s what really helped us turn it around, and we started playing better in the second half.”
In that third frame, the Lady ’Cats had six points from Carr (including a 3-pointer), while Parr had two points, McMullen had two points, and with one point each were Hill and Yeager.
Whiteoak in the fourth had four players score two points each as they were McMullen, Roberts, Parr and Campbell, while Yeager scored four points with WHS scoring 12 points in the quarter to seal the win.
Other final scoring totals for Whiteoak included Carr (seven), Campbell (five), Roberts (four) and Hill (three).
For Western, Jordyn Rittenhouse led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Breleigh Tackett with eight points and Kenzi Ferneau with seven points.
As a team, Western totaled eight two-point baskets, one 3-pointer and they were 11-of-15 from the free-throw line.
WHS as a team made 13 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers, and they were 12-of-17 from the free-throw line.
WHS will play in the district semifinals in the Southeast District for Division IV on Thursday, Feb. 23 against No. 3 Waterford at Wellston High School with a start of 8 p.m.
The sectional championship is the 14th in program history, with the first coming in 1989, followed by wins in ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06 and ’07.
“It has been a really long time, but it is good for us to get that because it takes the pressure off us because we don’t have to worry about breaking that streak,” WHS head coach Ron Harris said. “I thought we’d be looking more toward next year breaking it, but we are one year ahead of schedule. Now there is more pressure on us because we’ve got to do it again.
“The girls are out here crying, even though we just cut the nets a couple games ago, and it seems that cutting down the nets is something we should be getting used to, seeing the emotion they have. It shows how much it means.”
As for Wednesday in the tournament win, WHS (14-9) trailed 7-5 after the first quarter with Jaylie Parr sinking a 3-pointer and Darby Yeager scoring a basket in the quarter for the Lady ’Cats. Parr led WHS with 13 points for the game.
WHS took the lead in the second quarter with Whiteoak taking a two-point advantage at halftime, 23-21, as they outscored Western, 18-14 in the quarter.
Parr led the second frame for Whiteoak with six points as she made three free throws on three attempts and a 3-pointer.
As WHS tied the score with the first points of the second quarter off a steal and basket from Molly McMullen, they took the lead with two free throws made by Yeager with 7:05 left in the second for a 9-7 lead.
McMullen finished with six points in the win, while Yeager totaled nine points for Whiteoak.
The quarter for Whiteoak also saw Bri Hill score two points, Lydia Carr score one point, Addison Roberts net two points and Brooke Campbell score three points.
Coming out of halftime, the Lady Wildcats saw improvement on their defense, which helped the overall cause in the win, outscoring Western, 12-1 in the third for a 35-22 lead.
“The girls were nervous before the game because they’ve never really had a chance to win one of these things,” Harris said. “I told them it ‘it is good to be nervous because this means something to you,’ and if you are doing something and you aren’t nervous, then you don’t care about what you are going into.
“Last year I don’t think we were nervous because we knew Peebles was going to be very good. I liked seeing us improve, and that’s why there are two halves in basketball. Players like Lydia Carr attacking the basket, that’s what really helped us turn it around, and we started playing better in the second half.”
In that third frame, the Lady ’Cats had six points from Carr (including a 3-pointer), while Parr had two points, McMullen had two points, and with one point each were Hill and Yeager.
Whiteoak in the fourth had four players score two points each as they were McMullen, Roberts, Parr and Campbell, while Yeager scored four points with WHS scoring 12 points in the quarter to seal the win.
Other final scoring totals for Whiteoak included Carr (seven), Campbell (five), Roberts (four) and Hill (three).
For Western, Jordyn Rittenhouse led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Breleigh Tackett with eight points and Kenzi Ferneau with seven points.
As a team, Western totaled eight two-point baskets, one 3-pointer and they were 11-of-15 from the free-throw line.
WHS as a team made 13 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers, and they were 12-of-17 from the free-throw line.
WHS will play in the district semifinals in the Southeast District for Division IV on Thursday, Feb. 23 against No. 3 Waterford at Wellston High School with a start of 8 p.m.