Lady Wildcats battle tough; fall to Southeastern
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
BAINBRIDGE — The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats did show improvement with their offensive production from last season, though there is still work to be done elsewhere, as they fell in their season opener by a 68-54 score to the Southeastern Lady Panthers, Saturday at the 2013 Lady 'Cats Classic at Paint Valley High School.
Besides the first frame where the Lady Wildcats were held to eight points, they managed to score no less than 13 points in a quarter in each of the final three frames, including a second frame of 13 points, as they trailed at the half by a 32-21 score.
One negative for WHS was turnovers, as they unofficially committed 21 turnovers. Another was fast break opportunities for the Lady Panthers that morphed into points.
[[In-content Ad]]"It was the first game, and we were careless with the basketball," WHS head coach Mike Cooper said. "We have to work on that, but I did see a lot of good things.
"I loved the effort, and we have to remember it was a lot of the girls' first time playing varsity. We need to contain pressure, and we didn't this game. Not containing pressure resulted in Southeastern points."
Sophomore Emma Wardlow was the Team MVP for WHS. She finished with 21 points, including two 3-pointers and an 9-of-11 performance from the free-throw line.
"In the first half, we relied on Emma too much," Cooper said. "In the second half, we did a better job of distributing the ball."
The Team MVP for SE was senior Haley Hice with 17 points.
Following their eight-point first frame, the Lady 'Cats (0-1) didn't score their 10th point until the 6:21 mark of the second off two free throws by Wardlow, which cut the SE lead to 20-10.
Later in the quarter, Amber Gorman scored points in the paint, as she finished the game with 12 points, with 10 points in the second half.
"Amber's post play was nice to see," Cooper said. "We could have quit as a team, but the girls battled, and that was a plus."
SE (1-0) answered with six straight points, but WHS was right there with two free throws from Wardlow, one free throw by Maggie Carr and a bank shot sank by Emily Stratton, bringing the Lady 'Cats to within 11 points of tying the score with 1:16 left in the second.
WHS ended the quarter with two free throws from Wardlow and a steal and layup by Ashleigh Harless.
With WHS trailing by 11 points (32-21) at halftime, Wardlow and Gorman opened the third with consecutive buckets. WHS put together a 6-0 run to open the frame with Gorman scoring four of the points, as WHS got to within seven points of tying the score with 6:05 left on the third-quarter clock.
Following six straight points by SE, WHS (the home team) had a 3-pointer from Stratton and a put-back bucket from Jayde Parr for a 40-32 score.
Carr scored in the quarter on a fast break, and Brittany Luman had the final points of the third with a jumper for an eight-point deficit at 44-36.
WHS had 18 points in the fourth, but eight turnovers in the quarter didn't help their cause any as WHS never got closer than eight points of tying the score in the final frame.
Gorman added six points in the fourth, as WHS totaled 18 points in the final eight minutes. Senior Morgan Campbell sank a 3-pointer in the quarter.
The next game for WHS will be on Dec. 2 at Manchester.
Besides the first frame where the Lady Wildcats were held to eight points, they managed to score no less than 13 points in a quarter in each of the final three frames, including a second frame of 13 points, as they trailed at the half by a 32-21 score.
One negative for WHS was turnovers, as they unofficially committed 21 turnovers. Another was fast break opportunities for the Lady Panthers that morphed into points.
[[In-content Ad]]"It was the first game, and we were careless with the basketball," WHS head coach Mike Cooper said. "We have to work on that, but I did see a lot of good things.
"I loved the effort, and we have to remember it was a lot of the girls' first time playing varsity. We need to contain pressure, and we didn't this game. Not containing pressure resulted in Southeastern points."
Sophomore Emma Wardlow was the Team MVP for WHS. She finished with 21 points, including two 3-pointers and an 9-of-11 performance from the free-throw line.
"In the first half, we relied on Emma too much," Cooper said. "In the second half, we did a better job of distributing the ball."
The Team MVP for SE was senior Haley Hice with 17 points.
Following their eight-point first frame, the Lady 'Cats (0-1) didn't score their 10th point until the 6:21 mark of the second off two free throws by Wardlow, which cut the SE lead to 20-10.
Later in the quarter, Amber Gorman scored points in the paint, as she finished the game with 12 points, with 10 points in the second half.
"Amber's post play was nice to see," Cooper said. "We could have quit as a team, but the girls battled, and that was a plus."
SE (1-0) answered with six straight points, but WHS was right there with two free throws from Wardlow, one free throw by Maggie Carr and a bank shot sank by Emily Stratton, bringing the Lady 'Cats to within 11 points of tying the score with 1:16 left in the second.
WHS ended the quarter with two free throws from Wardlow and a steal and layup by Ashleigh Harless.
With WHS trailing by 11 points (32-21) at halftime, Wardlow and Gorman opened the third with consecutive buckets. WHS put together a 6-0 run to open the frame with Gorman scoring four of the points, as WHS got to within seven points of tying the score with 6:05 left on the third-quarter clock.
Following six straight points by SE, WHS (the home team) had a 3-pointer from Stratton and a put-back bucket from Jayde Parr for a 40-32 score.
Carr scored in the quarter on a fast break, and Brittany Luman had the final points of the third with a jumper for an eight-point deficit at 44-36.
WHS had 18 points in the fourth, but eight turnovers in the quarter didn't help their cause any as WHS never got closer than eight points of tying the score in the final frame.
Gorman added six points in the fourth, as WHS totaled 18 points in the final eight minutes. Senior Morgan Campbell sank a 3-pointer in the quarter.
The next game for WHS will be on Dec. 2 at Manchester.