Lady 'Cats advance to sectional finals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MCDERMOTT — The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats were clearly the better team in their Division IV SE District Sectional game, as they drew fouls and forced turnovers on their way to a 62-41 victory over the No. 8 seeded Green Lady Bobcats.
The Monday night win by the No. 9 Lady 'Cats (3-19) puts them in the sectional final on Thursday, Feb. 14, as they will face No. 1 seeded Notre Dame (16-1) at Northwest High School.
This was the first sectional win for WHS head coach Mike Cooper in his eighth try in the first round, and he credited his team with the win.
"This is my first year ever getting a win in the postseason," Cooper said. "This was huge for our program, and I'm happy for the girls and happy for the program.
"Every scouting report I had on Green, every film I saw showed they played 2-3 zone, they didn't press and they played half-court defense. They came out … played us man-to-man and tried to press us. When they did that, we decided we would play our offense and try to attack, and we were successful at it."
Though both teams committed a combined 39 fouls, Whiteoak was able to overcome those miscues en route to their third win of the season. In the first half alone, both teams combined for 23 fouls.
WHS set the tempo in the first half, outscoring the host Lady Bobcats (2-19), 15-6 in the first eight minutes, including going on a 9-2 run in the final 3:58 of the first quarter.
In that 9-2 run, WHS had points from Sunnie Lehr, Emily Stratton, Emma Wardlow and Courtney Cummings, with Cummings scoring the final three points of the quarter.
Wardlow led WHS with 15 points, followed by Cummings with 13 and Stratton with 12. Also in double figures was Morgan Campbell with 10 points.
After the first quarter where Green was already in the double bonus with 10 first-quarter fouls, WHS took control of the game with shots given to them as they scored six points from the free-throw line, with four of those made by Cummings, who went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to start the second frame.
Later in the second, Campbell sank a 3-pointer to put the Lady 'Cats ahead 22-11, doubling the output of their higher-ranked opponent with 3:36 left in the first half.
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WHS ended the quarter (from the 2:09 mark) with an 8-2 run, including a second 3-pointer from Campbell with less than 30 seconds left on the clock.
"The shot Morgan hit right before halftime was huge for us," Cooper said. "Green cut the lead to seven, and we lost some of our momentum, but that shot put us back up by 10."
Holding an 11-point lead entering the third frame (28-17), the Lady 'Cats added nine points to their lead at the conclusion of the third, building a lead of 20 points at 46-26.
"We talked at halftime about coming out, taking control of the game and forcing the issue, and we went on a nice run to seal the deal for us," Cooper said.
In the third, Stratton, Brittany Luman, Clarissa Johnson, Campbell, Cummings and Wardlow combined for 22 points, with Campbell sinking her third 3-pointer of the game with around four minutes left in the quarter.
As for the final quarter, Stratton dominated with seven straight points, added with a 3-pointer from Ashleigh Harless and two points by Wardlow to wrap up the quarter scoring.
"We've been telling Emily all year to shoot the ball, and sometimes in practice she just looks at us like we are crazy, but (Monday) she stepped up big, and those were huge points for us," Cooper said.
Leading Green was Giulia Elli with a game-high 23 points, including two 3-pointers in the second half.
Cooper spoke about the upcoming sectional final game this Thursday.
"We are facing the number-one seed and a great all-around player … they are a good, physical team, and we'll have to come out and play our best," Cooper said.
The Monday night win by the No. 9 Lady 'Cats (3-19) puts them in the sectional final on Thursday, Feb. 14, as they will face No. 1 seeded Notre Dame (16-1) at Northwest High School.
This was the first sectional win for WHS head coach Mike Cooper in his eighth try in the first round, and he credited his team with the win.
"This is my first year ever getting a win in the postseason," Cooper said. "This was huge for our program, and I'm happy for the girls and happy for the program.
"Every scouting report I had on Green, every film I saw showed they played 2-3 zone, they didn't press and they played half-court defense. They came out … played us man-to-man and tried to press us. When they did that, we decided we would play our offense and try to attack, and we were successful at it."
Though both teams committed a combined 39 fouls, Whiteoak was able to overcome those miscues en route to their third win of the season. In the first half alone, both teams combined for 23 fouls.
WHS set the tempo in the first half, outscoring the host Lady Bobcats (2-19), 15-6 in the first eight minutes, including going on a 9-2 run in the final 3:58 of the first quarter.
In that 9-2 run, WHS had points from Sunnie Lehr, Emily Stratton, Emma Wardlow and Courtney Cummings, with Cummings scoring the final three points of the quarter.
Wardlow led WHS with 15 points, followed by Cummings with 13 and Stratton with 12. Also in double figures was Morgan Campbell with 10 points.
After the first quarter where Green was already in the double bonus with 10 first-quarter fouls, WHS took control of the game with shots given to them as they scored six points from the free-throw line, with four of those made by Cummings, who went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to start the second frame.
Later in the second, Campbell sank a 3-pointer to put the Lady 'Cats ahead 22-11, doubling the output of their higher-ranked opponent with 3:36 left in the first half.
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WHS ended the quarter (from the 2:09 mark) with an 8-2 run, including a second 3-pointer from Campbell with less than 30 seconds left on the clock.
"The shot Morgan hit right before halftime was huge for us," Cooper said. "Green cut the lead to seven, and we lost some of our momentum, but that shot put us back up by 10."
Holding an 11-point lead entering the third frame (28-17), the Lady 'Cats added nine points to their lead at the conclusion of the third, building a lead of 20 points at 46-26.
"We talked at halftime about coming out, taking control of the game and forcing the issue, and we went on a nice run to seal the deal for us," Cooper said.
In the third, Stratton, Brittany Luman, Clarissa Johnson, Campbell, Cummings and Wardlow combined for 22 points, with Campbell sinking her third 3-pointer of the game with around four minutes left in the quarter.
As for the final quarter, Stratton dominated with seven straight points, added with a 3-pointer from Ashleigh Harless and two points by Wardlow to wrap up the quarter scoring.
"We've been telling Emily all year to shoot the ball, and sometimes in practice she just looks at us like we are crazy, but (Monday) she stepped up big, and those were huge points for us," Cooper said.
Leading Green was Giulia Elli with a game-high 23 points, including two 3-pointers in the second half.
Cooper spoke about the upcoming sectional final game this Thursday.
"We are facing the number-one seed and a great all-around player … they are a good, physical team, and we'll have to come out and play our best," Cooper said.