McClain Lady Tigers defeat Waverly in tournament; advance to district semifinals

GREENFIELD — The McClain Lady Tigers put together a complete game both offensively and defensively to open up Division IV SE District Tournament play Thursday night in Greenfield, and defeated Waverly, 55-41 in the district quarterfinal round. 

McClain will now advance to the second round and face the Logan Elm Lady Braves at Logan High School on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in the second game of the night at approximately 8 p.m. 

The Lady Tigers of McClain improve to 19-4 overall, while Waverly ends their season with a respectable 14-10 mark.

“We definitely came out ready to play tonight,” McClain head coach Shania Massie said after the game. “It was a little warm in here because of the temperature outside, but you’re always going to face some kind of adversity and I thought we adjusted to that pretty well.

“I think a big key to this win was the way my girls followed our game plan and did a great job of executing what we needed to do.”

This was the second time the two teams had played this year with McClain winning both times, but the one earlier in the season at Waverly with MHS winning that contest, 53-44.

“We played them earlier in the year down there and it was a good game,” Massie said. “So we did know a little bit about them coming into this game. Paige O’Bryant is a great player and we knew it would be one of our biggest challenges trying to stop her tonight.”

O’Bryant finished with a game-high 21 points that included three long balls and converting 4-of-6 free-throws.

The game was fast-paced and exciting throughout and for the biggest part of three quarters a really close game where at times both teams seemed to be matching baskets.

McClain took the first quarter 14-11, and after both teams scored 13 points each in the second, McClain led by the slimmest of margins 27-24 at halftime. O’Bryant led all-scorers at the break with 14 points in the first two quarters, and Pryor scored nine first half points to lead McClain.

After an exciting and evenly-played first half, McClain was able to take a double-digit lead 39-29 at the 3:00 mark after out-scoring Waverly 12-5 to begin the third period. Waverly was able to close the gap a little at the end of the period but still trailed 41-34 heading to the fourth.

The fourth quarter proved to be the difference-maker in the ballgame when McClain went on a 7-1 run to start the frame and grab a 48-35 lead.

After a made basket by Waverly’s Sadie Royster ended the run, McClain enjoyed their largest lead of the game 51-37 after Pryor drained her third trifecta of the game with just over four minutes remaining in regulation.

Another key factor in the final period — and the final score — was the play of Larah Henson who was injured and not available to play the last couple of games of the regular season.  

Henson scored eight of McClain’s 14 points in the fourth quarter, including a big 3-point shot and made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch when Waverly was forced to foul. Henson finished the game with 13 points and also played well defensively and grabbed several rebounds.

“Larah (Henson) hasn’t played in our last couple of games and it really showed,” Massie said. “We really missed her a lot because she has been a big part of our team. I thought she came out tonight and played extremely well and executed, never missing a beat and that was something that really helped us and made a big difference in this game.”

McClain also shot well from the charity stripe making 9-of-12 foul shots for a respectable 75-percent.

Leah Lovett was also a huge factor in the win for McClain, she also reached double-digits in scoring with 13 points but seemed to control the boards and rebounded the basketball well with 10-plus rebounds. Brie Cummins also played a fine all-around game for McClain scoring six points and did a solid job defensively too.

Rounding out the scoring for McClain was Mckenzie West with four points, and Allie Burgess with two points.

Waverly's O’Bryant led all scoring in the game with 21 points followed by Sadie Royster who added 11.