Whiteoak ends season as district runners-up

CHILLICOTHE — Having a red-hot start where the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats scored 21 points in the first quarter in their Division VI SE District Final game against the Belpre Lady Golden Eagles, things cooled down offensively in the next three frames. 

As strong of a first quarter the No. 3 seeded Lady Wildcats had, the next three frames saw Belpre (17-7) become more aggressive on defense, and keeping WHS to 14 points for the remainder of the game, causing a loss for Whiteoak by a 43-35 Saturday at Southwestern High School. 

Whiteoak finishes the season at 16-7 overall, their third consecutive season of at least 14 wins and their third straight winning season. The senior class finishes with 51 wins in the past four seasons. 

“The girls left it all on the floor tonight, and I'm incredibly proud of them. We just got done talking about the future and how they've set the precedent for future groups to come up,” WHS head coach Cole Schaefer said. “Five years ago, when I got to Whiteoak, they just got off an 0-22 season. So the fact that we set the record for wins this season is special, and the girls need to be proud of that. The fact that all of us came together, at a time and a place like this, is absolutely incredible.”

Though Belpre started the physical game with the first two points scored, Whiteoak answered with a free throw by Jillian Lucas and a 3-pointer by Addy Hauke for a 4-2 lead. Belpre took the lead with the next four points, but WHS answered with 16 of the next 17 points for a 19-7 lead with 1:39 left in the first. 

The runs of scoring started with a 3-pointer by Addison Roberts, followed by two free throws made by Kylee Hamm. Next was a 3-pointer by Charli Hauke, then there was a free throw by the Golden Eagles. 

Hamm then made a layup as she took the ball the length of the court, and that was followed with a 3-pointer by Roberts for a 17-7 WHS lead, forcing Belpre to call a timeout. 

Hamm followed with two more free throws made, and following two points by BHS, Torie Potts scored the final points of the quarter with a layup for a 21-9 lead to end the first frame. 

Having a 12-point lead when the first quarter came to a close, the Whiteoak lead was cut to six points at halftime as Belpre led the second at 12-6, and Whiteoak held the halftime lead at 27-21. 

WHS built their lead to 14 points in the second on two occasions with a layup by Addy Hauke, and later a layup from Hamm, as she battled through three Belpre defenders to the hoop for a 25-11 lead with 3:15 left in the second. 

After a timeout with 3:47 left in the second quarter, Belpre outscored the Lady Wildcats 8-2 in the final 2:45, and in all Belpre had a 12-4 run in the final 6:01 to cut Whiteoak’s lead to six points.

Belpre cut Whiteoak’s lead down to a single point after three frames at 34-33, with the score being tied four times in the third. BHS outscored Whiteoak 12-7 in the quarter. 

The Lady ’Cats in the third saw Addy Hauke make two free throws, Potts also made two free throws, and Hamm scored a two-point basket and made a free throw. As a team in the third, WHS went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. 

Then came the fourth, where Belpre’s defense held WHS to one point when Hamm made a free throw with 12.1 seconds left the game.

“They (Belpre) sped us up a little bit in the fourth quarter, but we didn’t play at the Wildcat pace, and we’ve kind of struggled with that all season, but it is something we’ve worked on most of the season,” Schaefer said. “We didn’t have 10 girls most of the season, so we really couldn’t practice the speed you see in the game. 

“As we got tired, the turnovers started to come, as they would for anybody else, and the battle of the ball didn’t bounce our way tonight, and that’s what it was.”

Hamm led WHS with 12 points, finishing with three two-point baskets and she was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

Roberts totaled eight points for WHS, and Addy Hauke scored seven points. Also for Whiteoak, Charli Hauke totaled three points and Potts finished with two points. Lucas ended the game with one point. 

Gracie Bills led BHS with 15 points, followed by Julia Way with 10 points and Haley Alloway with nine points. 

Coach Schaefer spoke about this season as he came in as head coach following the first game of the season. 

“It has been rewarding. A lot of people say coaching boys and girls is different, but not them. The girls like to have fun, but they also like to get to work, too. I’ve enjoyed so many laughs and smiles with these girls that each one of them is going to be a lifetime worth of memories and opportunities to grow on as a coach. 

“I’m lucky they let me come in and coach them and mentor them, and they coach me as well. They press me to be a better coach, and that’s exactly what I had to do to step up for them.” 

Seniors for WHS are Adrionna Phillips, Kylee Hamm, Elly McMullen, Addison Roberts and Torie Potts. 

“I have five seniors, and with Addy Roberts, she was committed to being the best defender on the team,” Schaefer said. “Kylee, we call her ‘Big Dog.’ She’ll do whatever you want her to do. If you ask her to run through a wall, she will run through the wall. Torie is our nice calming voice on the side. She’s not afraid to tell you what’s up, and that’s the type of truth and honesty that happens in games. 

“Elly McMullen has been special for us. She came back in there middle of the year, and it has been awesome to see her grow as a person and as a player, and she’s brought some incredible minutes to our squad, and leadership in different area. Adrionna joined us in the middle of the year, and she’s great. She came in and worked hard in practice, and she was another defender we could practice on. She’s a heck of a soccer player so she’s used to getting in front of them.”

Schaefer had a couple final comments. 

“Our community support was outstanding,” he said. “Our pep bus, the students who joined that, came in and were ready full force. We had a bunch of orange in the stands. The community of Mowrystown, the people around came together for us, and that’s exciting to see.”

BOX SCORE 
WHS    21 06 07 01 — 35
BHS    09 12 12 10 — 43

BELPRE (43) — L.McDaniel 2 (0) 0-0 4, J.Way 5 (0) 0-0 10, M.Lauer 0 (0) 1-2 1, A.Stewart 1 (0) 0-0 2, S.Miller 1 (0) 0-0 2, G.Bills 6 (0) 3-6 15, H.Alloway 1 (1) 4-6 9. TOTALS: 16 (1) 8-14 43. 

WHITEOAK (35) — C.Hauke 0 (1) 0-0 3, K.Hamm 3 (0) 6-8 12, J.Lucas 0 (0) 1-2 1, A.Roberts 1 (2) 0-0 8, A.Hauke 1 (1) 2-2 7, T.Potts 1 (0) 2-4 4. TOTALS: 6 (4) 11-16 35.