Lady 'Cats use strong 4th frame to advance to sectional finals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MCDERMOTT — It took until the fourth quarter for the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats to break away, but that was more than enough time as they defeated Glenwood (New Boston), 49-40 Monday at Northwest High School in a Division IV SE District Sectional Semifinal matchup.
For the No. 11 seeded Lady 'Cats (2-18), they used an 18-point fourth quarter to maneuver past the Lady Tigers of Glenwood (a No. 6 seed) as they were held to nine points in the final eight minutes.
"We wanted to pressure the ball more in the second half," WHS head coach Mike Cooper said. "We switched our press around to a more of an attack press in the second half, and it worked out for us.
"We got really good pressure."
WHS sophomore Emma Wardlow led all scorers with 24 points, including 12 points in the fourth quarter.
"Emma stepped up big in the fourth quarter," Cooper said.
The final eight minutes began with the score tied at 31-31, with WHS senior Amber Gorman, who totaled 10 points, breaking the tie with a free throw at the 7:37 mark, but the lead didn't last long with Glenwood's Kiersten McGraw scoring two points on a put-back for a 33-32 WHS deficit.
Then the game turned into all Whiteoak with the Lady 'Cats using a tough press defense that forced turnovers and the three-point shooting of Wardlow to put the visitors on the scoreboard in the lead for good.
Wardlow scored eight straight points off consecutive 3-pointers with 6:36 and 5:56 for a 38-33 advantage. From there, she stole the ball and scored on a layup, increasing the WHS lead to seven points.
GHS, who had nine wins this season, answered with a 3-pointer of their own from Eden Howard. Wardlow equaled the feat with her third 3-pointer of the quarter with 5:03 left in regulation.
That was followed with a three-point play by Amber Gorman to move the Lady 'Cats ahead by 10 points at 46-36.
From there, WHS also had points from Courtney Cummings and Wardlow to end the WHS scoring for the game.
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As for the earlier parts of the game, GHS led the Lady 'Cats 10-6 after the first quarter and 23-21 at halftime with the Lady Tigers being outscored by WHS, 15-13.
The third frame saw WHS outscore GHS, 10-8.
"We were making adjustments in the third, and it forced turnover after turnover," Cooper said. "Our pressure controlled the tempo of the game."
For WHS in the first half, senior Morgan Campbell had seven points, including a 3-pointer in the second frame.
"Morgan was big in the first half offensively, and her defense in the second half was the front line of our press," Cooper said.
Wardlow scored 10 points in the first two quarters. Also adding points in the first half were Gorman and senior Brittany Luman. Luman finished the game with five points and Campbell with seven.
In the third, Jayde Parr made a free throw.
WHS went 9-for-13 from the free-throw line, while GHS went 6-7. McGraw led the Lady Tigers with 20 points, followed by Howard with 13.
The Lady 'Cats will play again on Thursday, Feb. 13 when they travel by to Northwest High School to play No. 1 seeded Peebles at 6:15 p.m.
For the No. 11 seeded Lady 'Cats (2-18), they used an 18-point fourth quarter to maneuver past the Lady Tigers of Glenwood (a No. 6 seed) as they were held to nine points in the final eight minutes.
"We wanted to pressure the ball more in the second half," WHS head coach Mike Cooper said. "We switched our press around to a more of an attack press in the second half, and it worked out for us.
"We got really good pressure."
WHS sophomore Emma Wardlow led all scorers with 24 points, including 12 points in the fourth quarter.
"Emma stepped up big in the fourth quarter," Cooper said.
The final eight minutes began with the score tied at 31-31, with WHS senior Amber Gorman, who totaled 10 points, breaking the tie with a free throw at the 7:37 mark, but the lead didn't last long with Glenwood's Kiersten McGraw scoring two points on a put-back for a 33-32 WHS deficit.
Then the game turned into all Whiteoak with the Lady 'Cats using a tough press defense that forced turnovers and the three-point shooting of Wardlow to put the visitors on the scoreboard in the lead for good.
Wardlow scored eight straight points off consecutive 3-pointers with 6:36 and 5:56 for a 38-33 advantage. From there, she stole the ball and scored on a layup, increasing the WHS lead to seven points.
GHS, who had nine wins this season, answered with a 3-pointer of their own from Eden Howard. Wardlow equaled the feat with her third 3-pointer of the quarter with 5:03 left in regulation.
That was followed with a three-point play by Amber Gorman to move the Lady 'Cats ahead by 10 points at 46-36.
From there, WHS also had points from Courtney Cummings and Wardlow to end the WHS scoring for the game.
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As for the earlier parts of the game, GHS led the Lady 'Cats 10-6 after the first quarter and 23-21 at halftime with the Lady Tigers being outscored by WHS, 15-13.
The third frame saw WHS outscore GHS, 10-8.
"We were making adjustments in the third, and it forced turnover after turnover," Cooper said. "Our pressure controlled the tempo of the game."
For WHS in the first half, senior Morgan Campbell had seven points, including a 3-pointer in the second frame.
"Morgan was big in the first half offensively, and her defense in the second half was the front line of our press," Cooper said.
Wardlow scored 10 points in the first two quarters. Also adding points in the first half were Gorman and senior Brittany Luman. Luman finished the game with five points and Campbell with seven.
In the third, Jayde Parr made a free throw.
WHS went 9-for-13 from the free-throw line, while GHS went 6-7. McGraw led the Lady Tigers with 20 points, followed by Howard with 13.
The Lady 'Cats will play again on Thursday, Feb. 13 when they travel by to Northwest High School to play No. 1 seeded Peebles at 6:15 p.m.