Whiteoak earns 9-point win over visiting Fayetteville 

MOWRYSTOWN – Playing closely contested basketball for all four quarters Friday night, the Whiteoak Wildcats gained the winning edge in the fourth and final quarter as they fended off the visiting Fayetteville Rockets for a 54-45 Southern Hills Athletic Conference win. 

The Wildcats held a one-point lead after three quarters by a 43-42 score, but a fourth frame where shots struggled to fall for the Rockets, the Wildcats took advantage with an 11-3 final eight minutes to secure the win. 

Though the Rockets tied the score 37 seconds into the fourth quarter with a made free throw, Whiteoak responded with a 10-0 run that began with 7:09 on the clock and ended at the 2:23 mark of the fourth for a 53-43 lead.

WHS began their scoring run that sealed the win with a three-point play from Brady Brandenberg, and after a 30-second timeout by the Rockets with 6:40 on the clock, Whiteoak went back to adding to their lead with two points by Weston Blair, and then a 3-pointer from Sawyer Blair with 4:51 left in regulation for a 51-43 score. 

The Blair brothers led Whiteoak in scoring, with Weston leading the way with 17 points and Sawyer scoring 16 points. Brandenburg also finished in double figures with 10 points. 

After both teams missed free throws, the Wildcats took a 10-point advantage with two points in the paint by Zack Igo. The Rockets ended the scoring streak with points at the 1:34 mark, and the final point of the game came with a free throw made by Sawyer Blair with 31.1 left in the conference game. 

“We really worked on that and everything, but we’ve struggled doing it. We’ve put all the practice time in it to get it,” WHS head coach Greg Patton said of his team battling throughout the game. “I know they can knock the shots down. We talked about executing the plays and sticking to the game plan, and they did an excellent job tonight.”

Patton also spoke about the rebounding and defense of his team, and how they improved overall from their previous game. 

“We’ve really been working on that for a long time, too,” Patton said. “We had a really bad showing here last Tuesday. We’re really hounding them about rebounding and talking and just getting after it on defense. We’re getting there, but we’ve still got a long way to go for where I want to be.”

As successful as the fourth quarter went for Whiteoak, the first frame saw them trail by a 17-13 score, but WHS was first to reach the scoreboard with a jumper by Weston Blair as WHS initially gained possession of the ball because of the defense by Brandenburg, who drew a charge at the 7:15 mark of the opening quarter. 

WHS trailed for the remainder of the opening quarter by as many as 10 points with 1:34 left in the first, but scoring eight of the final 11 points of the opening frame saw them trail by just four points when the quarter came to an end. 

Whiteoak led by one point at halftime, outscoring the Rockets 13-8 in the eight minutes of play, with points by Weston Blair to start the home team scoring in the frame. WHS followed later in the quarter with more points from Weston Blair, plus a 3-pointer by Zander Roades – from the top of the key – for a one-point deficit with 5:14 on the clock. 

Fayetteville added four points to their total, taking a five-point lead with 4:04 left in the first half, but the Wildcats had other plans, ending the final 2:51 of the second quarter with a jumper by Tyler Wessner, points in the paint by Sawyer Blair and a put-back basket at the buzzer from Wessner for the 26-25 lead, which was Whiteoak’s first lead of the second quarter. 

WHS kept a one-point lead once the third frame concluded, and the Wildcats’ largest lead of the third quarter was three points with 4:54 left on the clock, following two made free throws by Sawyer Blair. 

The score was tied twice in the third, once at 28-28 with 6:50 on the clock, and again at the 2:22 mark of the third following a Whiteoak 3-pointer by Brandenburg, who sank the shot from the corner of the court. 

Fayetteville took a 3-point lead, but from the 1:23 mark until the quarter closed, Fairfield outscored the Rockets 6-2 off baskets by Brandenburg, Roades and Weston Blair.

Other final scoring for the Wildcats included: Roades (5), Wessner (4) and Igo (2). 

“We were (consistent), and that’s something we’ve been lacking is consistency,” Patton said. “The shots don’t fall, and we tend to make some bad shots at times. We got down a little bit there, but we stuck to the game plan and took good shots and just continued to reach at it.

“Zack Igo and Tyler Wessner played some really great defense for me. This is a huge win for us because they’re a good team (Fayetteville). It’s great and leaves us at 2-0 in the league, which it’s a great start, and we can’t do any better than that. I’m glad to get this win. I know Fayetteville’s tough.”

The Rockets were led in scoring by Ayden Wells and Caleb Tipis with 13 points each. Alex Bradshaw followed with seven points. The rest of the Rockets’ scoring included: Brady Feldhaus (4), Camden Polston (3),  Charlie Coffman (3) and Chase Hendrix (2) . 

The win improves WHS to 2-0 in Division II of the SHAC and 2-3 overall. Fayetteville is now 1-3 in the SHAC and 1-4 overall. 

Next for Whiteoak is a SHAC game on Friday, Dec. 22 at home vs. Manchester (2-2, 5-3).

BOX SCORE


FHS    17 08 17 03 – 45
WHS    13 13 17 11 – 54

WHITEOAK (54) – Z.Igo 1 (0) 0-0 2, Z.Roades 1 (1) 0-0 5, S.Blair 5 (1) 3-8 16, T.Wessner 2 (0) 0-0 4, W.Blair 8 (0) 1-2 17, B.Brandenburg 3 (1) 1-1 10. TOTALS: 20 (3) 5-11 54. 

FAYETTEVILLE (45) – C.Polston 0 (1) 0-0 3, A.Wells 2 (3) 0-0 13, C.Tipis 2 (3) 0-0 13, C.Hendrix 1 (0) 0-0 2, C.Coffman 0 (1) 0-2 3, A.Bradshaw 1 (1) 2-4 7, B.Feldhaus 2 (0) 0-0 4. TOTALS: 8 (9) 2-6 45.