Wildcats 'hurried' in loss to West Union
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
SEAMAN — The Whiteoak Wildcats got off to a slow start and just weren't able to recover as they never held the lead, suffering their first loss of the season by falling to West Union Dragons, 67-42 Saturday morning in the first game of the inaugural Coach Young Classic at North Adams High School.
Both teams had played less than 12 to 13 hours before on Friday, but it didn't matter in the non-conference meeting between the two Southern Hills Athletic Conference foes.
WHS got behind early, and though they were close at times, they never got over the hump of taking the advantage of the game, as West Union (2-0) used their speed to break away from WHS.
"West Union did a good job of hurrying us," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said. "They got us in a big hurry, and in the first half, it turned into free-throw chances for us. In the second half, they hurried us into 15-foot jump shots, and that wasn't what we wanted.
"Patience was the biggest thing for us … we struggled with that on Friday as well."
WHS was led in scoring by Jason Jones with 13 points, followed by Tyler Williams with 11 points and six rebounds.
Also scoring for the Wildcats were Tristen Nicely with eight points and nine rebounds, Brandon Ashbaugh with six points and seven rebounds and Nick Wardlow with four points.
Wessner spoke about how WHS handled playing two games in such a short amount of time.
"Obviously, we didn't handle the turnaround well," Wessner said. "We have to become more mentally tough, slow down and handle those things better."
As for the first frame, WU, the away team, outscored WHS 16-10. They got off to an 11-2 advantage as the lone points by WHS in that span were from Ashbaugh at the 5:25 mark of the quarter, putting the score at 2-2.
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The next WHS basket came with 3:09 left in the quarter when Nicely sank a 3-pointer, followed by a jumper by Jones to get to within four points of tying the score. That mini-run was answered by the Dragons ending the quarter with 7-1 run.
WHS trailed 31-23 at halftime as they were outscored 15-13 in the second frame. Both teams exchanged points to start the frame in their own short runs, with WHS cutting the WU lead to eight points with 5:20 left in the quarter following a basket from Wardlow.
Later in the frame, Wardlow scored on a put-back basket with 4:21 left in the quarter to get to within four points of tying the score at 22-18. Again, WHS got back to within three points of tying the score, this time following a jumper and a free throw by Williams with 3:02 left in the opening half, but they didn't get any closer in the half.
WHS totaled 19 points in the second half, with 10 points in the third and nine in the fourth. WU, on the other hand, scored 18 points in the third and added 18 more in the fourth.
Leading the Dragons in scoring were Brady Hinkle with 12 points and Trenton Price with 10. A total of 10 WU players scored points. WU was also 12-of-18 from the free-throw line, while WHS was 6-of-18.
WHS will play again on Tuesday, Dec. 2 as they travel to face Ripley in an SHAC contest.
Both teams had played less than 12 to 13 hours before on Friday, but it didn't matter in the non-conference meeting between the two Southern Hills Athletic Conference foes.
WHS got behind early, and though they were close at times, they never got over the hump of taking the advantage of the game, as West Union (2-0) used their speed to break away from WHS.
"West Union did a good job of hurrying us," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said. "They got us in a big hurry, and in the first half, it turned into free-throw chances for us. In the second half, they hurried us into 15-foot jump shots, and that wasn't what we wanted.
"Patience was the biggest thing for us … we struggled with that on Friday as well."
WHS was led in scoring by Jason Jones with 13 points, followed by Tyler Williams with 11 points and six rebounds.
Also scoring for the Wildcats were Tristen Nicely with eight points and nine rebounds, Brandon Ashbaugh with six points and seven rebounds and Nick Wardlow with four points.
Wessner spoke about how WHS handled playing two games in such a short amount of time.
"Obviously, we didn't handle the turnaround well," Wessner said. "We have to become more mentally tough, slow down and handle those things better."
As for the first frame, WU, the away team, outscored WHS 16-10. They got off to an 11-2 advantage as the lone points by WHS in that span were from Ashbaugh at the 5:25 mark of the quarter, putting the score at 2-2.
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The next WHS basket came with 3:09 left in the quarter when Nicely sank a 3-pointer, followed by a jumper by Jones to get to within four points of tying the score. That mini-run was answered by the Dragons ending the quarter with 7-1 run.
WHS trailed 31-23 at halftime as they were outscored 15-13 in the second frame. Both teams exchanged points to start the frame in their own short runs, with WHS cutting the WU lead to eight points with 5:20 left in the quarter following a basket from Wardlow.
Later in the frame, Wardlow scored on a put-back basket with 4:21 left in the quarter to get to within four points of tying the score at 22-18. Again, WHS got back to within three points of tying the score, this time following a jumper and a free throw by Williams with 3:02 left in the opening half, but they didn't get any closer in the half.
WHS totaled 19 points in the second half, with 10 points in the third and nine in the fourth. WU, on the other hand, scored 18 points in the third and added 18 more in the fourth.
Leading the Dragons in scoring were Brady Hinkle with 12 points and Trenton Price with 10. A total of 10 WU players scored points. WU was also 12-of-18 from the free-throw line, while WHS was 6-of-18.
WHS will play again on Tuesday, Dec. 2 as they travel to face Ripley in an SHAC contest.