Whiteoak Lady 'Cats top Eastern Brown
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — For the first time in a very long time, the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats defeated the Eastern Brown Lady Warriors, 41-34, never losing the lead from the second quarter until the end of the game.
For WHS, they gained the win (this counted as a non-conference game) by making clutch shots, and they forced Eastern to shoot from the perimeter, not allowing them to get their post game going.
Even though WHS kept the lead from most of the second quarter on, they had to battle to keep the lead when Eastern sank a 3-pointer with 38.6 seconds left in the game, making a 36-32 score. Later with 30.8 left in the fourth the Lady Warriors made it a two-point game, but that's when WHS made the clutch free throws when they needed them the most.
Whiteoak's Maggie Carr and Emma Wardlow combined to make five of their final six free throws to seal the victory. Wardlow finished the game with a team-high 10 points.
"We had to get the ball into some shooters' hands and we did that," WHS head coach John Kirschner said. "Maggie and Emma are two of our better free throw shooters, and we knew we had to get them the ball.
[[In-content Ad]]"We also knew Eastern wasn't going to quit, and they saved their best for last. What I'm proud of this team the most is in previous years a team would get a run on us and we would quit or panic. This team stayed with the game plan and executed and did what they had to do."
Even with the Lady 'Cats winning by seven points, that wasn't the story in the first quarter, even though WHS led the quarter by a 6-4 score. The first-quarter scoring for WHS came with Sunnie Lehr tying the score at 2-2 with two free throws with 4:03 left in the quarter.
Later in the first, Michaela Luman tied the score at 4-4 with a put-back bucket, and with 1:14 left in the opening frame, Luman put WHS ahead by two points with more put-back points.
WHS led 16-12 at halftime, outscoring EB, 10-8 in the second frame. In the second, Emily Stratton sank two timely 3-pointers coming off the bench, putting WHS ahead 12-7. Those 3-pointers ended up being part of an 8-1 run by WHS.
"Emily stepped it up (Monday)," Kirschner said. "She did a great job off the bench Saturday and did it again (Monday). That's what I try to preach to this team … it's not who starts the game, but who finishes it.
"That's been the key to our 2-0 start, the girls coming off the bench and making a solid contribution."
By the end of the third, WHS had built a 10-point lead at 28-18, doubling the output of the visiting Lady Warriors, 12-6 in the third.
The fourth saw EB start the quarter with an 8-1 run, cutting the lead of WHS to three points with 3:19 left in regulation. Wardlow answered with a big-time 3-pointer, sinking the shot from the corner with pressure in front of her.
The 3-pointer by Wardlow with 2:44 was later followed with two free throws by the junior, and later one Free throw by Stratton for a 35-26 lead.
WB came back with one final rally, scoring five points within a 20-second span to make it the aforementioned 36-32 score.
Even with the late rally, WHS still kept their opponent to under 50 points to start the season in their first two games. WHS defeated Paint Valley, 69-49 in Saturday.
"We watched Eastern on Saturday, and they have a solid ball team, but we wanted to pressure the guards with our press," Kirschner said. "I knew if we took away the post, they would struggle with the outside (shots). So, until they beat it, we knew that's what we were going to stay in.
"We can give every team different looks on each night, and that's what I like about our team."
For WHS, they gained the win (this counted as a non-conference game) by making clutch shots, and they forced Eastern to shoot from the perimeter, not allowing them to get their post game going.
Even though WHS kept the lead from most of the second quarter on, they had to battle to keep the lead when Eastern sank a 3-pointer with 38.6 seconds left in the game, making a 36-32 score. Later with 30.8 left in the fourth the Lady Warriors made it a two-point game, but that's when WHS made the clutch free throws when they needed them the most.
Whiteoak's Maggie Carr and Emma Wardlow combined to make five of their final six free throws to seal the victory. Wardlow finished the game with a team-high 10 points.
"We had to get the ball into some shooters' hands and we did that," WHS head coach John Kirschner said. "Maggie and Emma are two of our better free throw shooters, and we knew we had to get them the ball.
[[In-content Ad]]"We also knew Eastern wasn't going to quit, and they saved their best for last. What I'm proud of this team the most is in previous years a team would get a run on us and we would quit or panic. This team stayed with the game plan and executed and did what they had to do."
Even with the Lady 'Cats winning by seven points, that wasn't the story in the first quarter, even though WHS led the quarter by a 6-4 score. The first-quarter scoring for WHS came with Sunnie Lehr tying the score at 2-2 with two free throws with 4:03 left in the quarter.
Later in the first, Michaela Luman tied the score at 4-4 with a put-back bucket, and with 1:14 left in the opening frame, Luman put WHS ahead by two points with more put-back points.
WHS led 16-12 at halftime, outscoring EB, 10-8 in the second frame. In the second, Emily Stratton sank two timely 3-pointers coming off the bench, putting WHS ahead 12-7. Those 3-pointers ended up being part of an 8-1 run by WHS.
"Emily stepped it up (Monday)," Kirschner said. "She did a great job off the bench Saturday and did it again (Monday). That's what I try to preach to this team … it's not who starts the game, but who finishes it.
"That's been the key to our 2-0 start, the girls coming off the bench and making a solid contribution."
By the end of the third, WHS had built a 10-point lead at 28-18, doubling the output of the visiting Lady Warriors, 12-6 in the third.
The fourth saw EB start the quarter with an 8-1 run, cutting the lead of WHS to three points with 3:19 left in regulation. Wardlow answered with a big-time 3-pointer, sinking the shot from the corner with pressure in front of her.
The 3-pointer by Wardlow with 2:44 was later followed with two free throws by the junior, and later one Free throw by Stratton for a 35-26 lead.
WB came back with one final rally, scoring five points within a 20-second span to make it the aforementioned 36-32 score.
Even with the late rally, WHS still kept their opponent to under 50 points to start the season in their first two games. WHS defeated Paint Valley, 69-49 in Saturday.
"We watched Eastern on Saturday, and they have a solid ball team, but we wanted to pressure the guards with our press," Kirschner said. "I knew if we took away the post, they would struggle with the outside (shots). So, until they beat it, we knew that's what we were going to stay in.
"We can give every team different looks on each night, and that's what I like about our team."