Lady 'Cats open year winners
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
BAINBRIDGE — The improvement showed for the Whiteoak Lady 'Cats, and the results followed Saturday morning as they defeated the Western Latham Lady Indians 45-40 at the Paint Valley Lady 'Cats Classic.
The win not only equals their season total from one year ago, but it was a coming out party for freshman point guard Emma Wardlow as she scored 13 points in her varsity debut to lead the Lady 'Cats in scoring. Wardlow was also the Whiteoak game MVP.
From the free-throw line, Wardlow was 8-for-12. She also totaled four rebounds, two steals and one assist.
"For being her first varsity game, Emma played great," Whiteoak head coach Mike Cooper said. "It was nice to see her step up and make her free throws.
"She took good shots, and that's what we want her to do … to take the open shots."
WHS (1-0) played with the first game jitters in the opening half as they committed double-digit turnovers but managed to keep the score tied at 19 at the conclusion of the second quarter. After the first frame, Western Latham led 9-7.
The biggest difference in the scoring was the final quarter as the Lady 'Cats doubled the output of the Lady Indians, 12-6 in the eight-minute span.
"We did a better job of keeping Western off the boards in the second half," Cooper said. "We had to battle because every time we would make a run, they would answer.
"Our defense has come a long way. The girls did a good job and stepped up."
For a team that shot 36 percent from the free-throw line one season ago, the Lady 'Cats put themselves in the win column due to their free-throw shooting this game as seven of their fourth-quarter points came from the charity stripe.
WHS began the fourth (they trailed 34-33 at the start of the quarter) with a 3-pointer by Morgan Campbell (four rebounds, two steals) putting WHS ahead with 7:32 by two points. Campbell finished with seven points.
From there, WHS and the Lady Indians exchanged free throws until Latham's Chrissy Woods tied the game at 37 with 5:59 on the clock.
Though WHS had troubles with turnovers, Wardlow tied the game at 39 with consecutive free throws.
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A layup by Amber Gorman (six rebounds, two steals), followed by a free throw from Brittany Luman (who totaled nine points, nine rebounds, two steals, one block) and another point by Gorman, put the Lady 'Cats ahead 43-39 with 2:20 on the clock at Donald Anderson Gymnasium at PVHS.
With the lead, WHS controlled the final couple minutes as they scored the final two points with free throws from Gorman and Wardlow.
As for the first three quarters … all were played closely by both teams with the point differential no more than five points at the conclusion of any quarter.
Though WHS won the game, it was Latham who had the hot hand early, scoring the game's first five points when Luman scored the first three points of the season for WHS off a free throw and a steal and basket with 2:53 left in the opening frame.
WHS scored the final four points of the first frame with Wardlow scoring off a full-court layup and two free throws from Courtney Cummings. Cummings totaled eight rebouds, one assist and one steal.
The Lady 'Cats outscored Latham 12-10 in the second quarter with five points by Luman, two from Clarissa Johnson (six rebounds), one by Campbell, three from Cummings (a 3-pointer) and two by Wardlow.
In the third frame WHS was outscored 15-14. Scoring for WHS in the third was Stratton (one rebound, one steal) with two, Johnson was two, Campbell with four (including a 3-pointer) and Wardlow had her best quarter of the game with six points, including a 3-pointer.
Sunnie Lehr totaled five rebounds for WHS.
"This is great for the kids," Cooper said about winning game one. "Any type of success is good, and hopefully we can build off it. We have no easy games, and we just have to continue to build."
Western was led in scoring by Brittany Reeder and Liz Jackson with 12 points each. Woods totaled 10.
WHS will play again on Dec. 3 in a home game against Manchester with JV play starting at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES: WHS totaled 49 rebounds, two assists, 10 steals, one block, and 19 turnovers.
The win not only equals their season total from one year ago, but it was a coming out party for freshman point guard Emma Wardlow as she scored 13 points in her varsity debut to lead the Lady 'Cats in scoring. Wardlow was also the Whiteoak game MVP.
From the free-throw line, Wardlow was 8-for-12. She also totaled four rebounds, two steals and one assist.
"For being her first varsity game, Emma played great," Whiteoak head coach Mike Cooper said. "It was nice to see her step up and make her free throws.
"She took good shots, and that's what we want her to do … to take the open shots."
WHS (1-0) played with the first game jitters in the opening half as they committed double-digit turnovers but managed to keep the score tied at 19 at the conclusion of the second quarter. After the first frame, Western Latham led 9-7.
The biggest difference in the scoring was the final quarter as the Lady 'Cats doubled the output of the Lady Indians, 12-6 in the eight-minute span.
"We did a better job of keeping Western off the boards in the second half," Cooper said. "We had to battle because every time we would make a run, they would answer.
"Our defense has come a long way. The girls did a good job and stepped up."
For a team that shot 36 percent from the free-throw line one season ago, the Lady 'Cats put themselves in the win column due to their free-throw shooting this game as seven of their fourth-quarter points came from the charity stripe.
WHS began the fourth (they trailed 34-33 at the start of the quarter) with a 3-pointer by Morgan Campbell (four rebounds, two steals) putting WHS ahead with 7:32 by two points. Campbell finished with seven points.
From there, WHS and the Lady Indians exchanged free throws until Latham's Chrissy Woods tied the game at 37 with 5:59 on the clock.
Though WHS had troubles with turnovers, Wardlow tied the game at 39 with consecutive free throws.
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A layup by Amber Gorman (six rebounds, two steals), followed by a free throw from Brittany Luman (who totaled nine points, nine rebounds, two steals, one block) and another point by Gorman, put the Lady 'Cats ahead 43-39 with 2:20 on the clock at Donald Anderson Gymnasium at PVHS.
With the lead, WHS controlled the final couple minutes as they scored the final two points with free throws from Gorman and Wardlow.
As for the first three quarters … all were played closely by both teams with the point differential no more than five points at the conclusion of any quarter.
Though WHS won the game, it was Latham who had the hot hand early, scoring the game's first five points when Luman scored the first three points of the season for WHS off a free throw and a steal and basket with 2:53 left in the opening frame.
WHS scored the final four points of the first frame with Wardlow scoring off a full-court layup and two free throws from Courtney Cummings. Cummings totaled eight rebouds, one assist and one steal.
The Lady 'Cats outscored Latham 12-10 in the second quarter with five points by Luman, two from Clarissa Johnson (six rebounds), one by Campbell, three from Cummings (a 3-pointer) and two by Wardlow.
In the third frame WHS was outscored 15-14. Scoring for WHS in the third was Stratton (one rebound, one steal) with two, Johnson was two, Campbell with four (including a 3-pointer) and Wardlow had her best quarter of the game with six points, including a 3-pointer.
Sunnie Lehr totaled five rebounds for WHS.
"This is great for the kids," Cooper said about winning game one. "Any type of success is good, and hopefully we can build off it. We have no easy games, and we just have to continue to build."
Western was led in scoring by Brittany Reeder and Liz Jackson with 12 points each. Woods totaled 10.
WHS will play again on Dec. 3 in a home game against Manchester with JV play starting at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES: WHS totaled 49 rebounds, two assists, 10 steals, one block, and 19 turnovers.