Lady Wildcats take control, defeat Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN - The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats went toe-to-toe with the Hillsboro Lady Indians for three straight quarters, then delivered the final blow in the final 5:44 with a 3-pointer from senior Kristen Seip as they didn't trail for the remainder of the non-league affair, defeating their county rival 49-40 Monday night at Whiteoak High School.
The win was the second win for the Lady Cats this season. They also defeated Felicity on Jan. 23.
"The key to the win (Monday) was our hustle," Whiteoak head coach Steve Smith said. "We had better hustle in this game and tonight we were diving after loose balls and battling inside. Sarah (Smith) and Haley (Bingamon) had two big diving saves for us in the fourth."
The county rivalry game Monday was low-scoring but close in the first half, with the Lady Indians leading by one point at 17-16 when halftime rolled around.
WHS senior Emily Hargett put Whiteoak in the lead eight seconds into the third quarter with two free throws, but HHS quickly regained the top spot with consecutive baskets by senior Heather Storer. Storer ended the game with 11 points.
Whiteoak's Haley Bingamon, who finished with 10 points, tied the game at 21 with a 3-pointer at the 6:26 mark of the third, but again, the Lady Indians were there to answer with fast points by Shelby Coyle and Jenni Willey.
The Lady 'Cats kept pressing the Lady Indians and eventually tied the game at 31 with buckets by Hargett and Gilliland, as Hargett's six straight WHS points and Gilliland tied the game with a jumper. Hargett led all scorers with a game-high 19 points.
Willey put HHS ahead 34-32, but Gilliland and Bingamon topped the feat by Willey with transition points to end the quarter with WHS leading 36-34.
The fourth quarter began with Storer reappearing off the bench (due to foul trouble) and tying the game at 36 with a put back bucket. Seip conquered with the aforementioned 3-pointer at the 5:44 mark and points were added to the WHS lead by Marissa Bohl, Bingamon (a 3-pointer) and Sarah Smith to increase the Lady 'Cats' lead to 44-38 with 3:05 remaining in regulation.
HHS was forced to foul late, and Seip made 3 of 4 from the line to give the Lady 'Cats their second win of the season.
"This game showed we don't score enough points," HHS head coach Herb Mihalik said. "In the second half we went up seven points, but we didn't put them away. We relaxed and Whiteoak ties the game and goes up by 10.
"We didn't stop their post player (Hargett) and not only can she play post, but she can shoot free throws well."
In the first half Coyle and Willey scored early for the Lady Indians' 4-0 lead, but Hargett and Gilliland combined for eight points (each scoring four) to put WHS ahead 8-4. Gilliland wrapped up the game with 12 points.
"Jessie (Gilliland) had an outstanding first half," Smith said. "She scored 8 of our first 10 points."
Annemarie Stamper netted points for the Lady Indians, but Gilliland ended the first with a jumper to put the Lady 'Cats in the lead by four points.
The second was dominated by Coyle, who knocked down three 3-pointers for HHS with the baskets coming at the 7:14 mark and the final 3-pointer coming with 20 seconds left in the first half. Coyle finished with a team-high 13 points.
WHS was 16 of 25 from the free-throw line, while HHS finished 5 of 10.
"That is better for us, but the best thing about that is we took 25 shots from the line," Smith said. "That shows we played aggressive and got fouled. We have been only shooting four or five free throws a game."
Even with the loss, Mihalik said there were some positives to take from the game.
"Jenni (Willey) played really well and Heather (Storer) got into foul trouble early, but we played better when she was on the court," Mihalik said. "Shelby played excellent early in the game with the three 3-pointers."
HHS drops to 1-15 overall. WHS improves to 2-16 overall.
The Lady Indians will play again Wednesday as they face East Clinton. WHS will take on Peebles on Thursday.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
HHS - 6 11 17 6 - 40
WHS - 10 6 20 13 - 49
INDIVIDUAL STATS
WHS (49)
Gilliland 4 4-5 12, Seip 0 (1) 3-6 6, Bohl 0 1-2 1, Bingamon 1 (2) 2-2 10, Smith 0 1-2 1, Hargett 7 5-6 19. TOTALS: 12 (3) 16-25 49.
HHS (40)
Shelton 1 2, Coyle 2 (3) 13, Stamper 1 0-1 2, Shafer 1 2, Storer 4 3-4 11, Willey 4 2-5 10. TOTALS: 13 (3) 5-10 40.[[In-content Ad]]
The win was the second win for the Lady Cats this season. They also defeated Felicity on Jan. 23.
"The key to the win (Monday) was our hustle," Whiteoak head coach Steve Smith said. "We had better hustle in this game and tonight we were diving after loose balls and battling inside. Sarah (Smith) and Haley (Bingamon) had two big diving saves for us in the fourth."
The county rivalry game Monday was low-scoring but close in the first half, with the Lady Indians leading by one point at 17-16 when halftime rolled around.
WHS senior Emily Hargett put Whiteoak in the lead eight seconds into the third quarter with two free throws, but HHS quickly regained the top spot with consecutive baskets by senior Heather Storer. Storer ended the game with 11 points.
Whiteoak's Haley Bingamon, who finished with 10 points, tied the game at 21 with a 3-pointer at the 6:26 mark of the third, but again, the Lady Indians were there to answer with fast points by Shelby Coyle and Jenni Willey.
The Lady 'Cats kept pressing the Lady Indians and eventually tied the game at 31 with buckets by Hargett and Gilliland, as Hargett's six straight WHS points and Gilliland tied the game with a jumper. Hargett led all scorers with a game-high 19 points.
Willey put HHS ahead 34-32, but Gilliland and Bingamon topped the feat by Willey with transition points to end the quarter with WHS leading 36-34.
The fourth quarter began with Storer reappearing off the bench (due to foul trouble) and tying the game at 36 with a put back bucket. Seip conquered with the aforementioned 3-pointer at the 5:44 mark and points were added to the WHS lead by Marissa Bohl, Bingamon (a 3-pointer) and Sarah Smith to increase the Lady 'Cats' lead to 44-38 with 3:05 remaining in regulation.
HHS was forced to foul late, and Seip made 3 of 4 from the line to give the Lady 'Cats their second win of the season.
"This game showed we don't score enough points," HHS head coach Herb Mihalik said. "In the second half we went up seven points, but we didn't put them away. We relaxed and Whiteoak ties the game and goes up by 10.
"We didn't stop their post player (Hargett) and not only can she play post, but she can shoot free throws well."
In the first half Coyle and Willey scored early for the Lady Indians' 4-0 lead, but Hargett and Gilliland combined for eight points (each scoring four) to put WHS ahead 8-4. Gilliland wrapped up the game with 12 points.
"Jessie (Gilliland) had an outstanding first half," Smith said. "She scored 8 of our first 10 points."
Annemarie Stamper netted points for the Lady Indians, but Gilliland ended the first with a jumper to put the Lady 'Cats in the lead by four points.
The second was dominated by Coyle, who knocked down three 3-pointers for HHS with the baskets coming at the 7:14 mark and the final 3-pointer coming with 20 seconds left in the first half. Coyle finished with a team-high 13 points.
WHS was 16 of 25 from the free-throw line, while HHS finished 5 of 10.
"That is better for us, but the best thing about that is we took 25 shots from the line," Smith said. "That shows we played aggressive and got fouled. We have been only shooting four or five free throws a game."
Even with the loss, Mihalik said there were some positives to take from the game.
"Jenni (Willey) played really well and Heather (Storer) got into foul trouble early, but we played better when she was on the court," Mihalik said. "Shelby played excellent early in the game with the three 3-pointers."
HHS drops to 1-15 overall. WHS improves to 2-16 overall.
The Lady Indians will play again Wednesday as they face East Clinton. WHS will take on Peebles on Thursday.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
HHS - 6 11 17 6 - 40
WHS - 10 6 20 13 - 49
INDIVIDUAL STATS
WHS (49)
Gilliland 4 4-5 12, Seip 0 (1) 3-6 6, Bohl 0 1-2 1, Bingamon 1 (2) 2-2 10, Smith 0 1-2 1, Hargett 7 5-6 19. TOTALS: 12 (3) 16-25 49.
HHS (40)
Shelton 1 2, Coyle 2 (3) 13, Stamper 1 0-1 2, Shafer 1 2, Storer 4 3-4 11, Willey 4 2-5 10. TOTALS: 13 (3) 5-10 40.[[In-content Ad]]