Lady 'Cats continue to show great effort; fall to Minford

MACON — Playing in the second session of the 2026 Eastern Winter Hoops Classic at Eastern High School (inside the middle school gym) on Saturday morning, the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats fell in non-conference play by a 44-32 score against the Minford Lady Falcons. 

In the loss, Whiteoak led after the first quarter with a two-point advantage at 10-8 as Whiteoak’s Ella Howard sank a 3-pointer at the 6:49 mark for the early 3-0 lead. After Minford’s Kerigan Davis made two free throws at the 5:09 mark, Whiteoak’s Jillian Lucas came back with a layup for a 5-2 WHS lead with 4:39 left in the opening quarter. 

Davis, again, made two free throws for the Lady Falcons, and they took the lead at 6-5 following a basket by Riley Kasee with 3:36 on the first-quarter clock. WHS regained the lead with a 3-pointer from Howard with 3:17 left in the quarter, her second trey of the game. 

Minford tied the game at 8-8 with a basket from Emma Carter, but WHS was right back in the top spot following a basket from Libby Webster for a 10-8 lead to conclude the first-quarter scoring. 

“We fought. All I asked for them was effort, and I thought the effort was there. Tonight, we made a few mistakes that we’ve got to clean up. If we can clean those mistakes up, I think we have a different outcome,” WHS head coach Tirrell Cumberland said. “We lost by 12. We shot 4-for-13 from the free-throw line. That's not going to cut it. We didn't particularly shoot the ball overly well from three, missed a couple bunnies.

“I know in the first half, we outrebounded them 14-5, but I don't know if we did at the end of the game. For a team our size, you can't be mad at it. Overall, I'm happy with the effort, not the outcome, but we’ve just got to continue to grow and fight with this young squad and go from there.”

WHS was outscored 13-6 in the second, trailing at halftime by a 21-16 score with Whiteoak’s second-quarter points being scored by Lucas with a basket and four points off two buckets by Howard. 

WHS scored the first four points of the second frame with baskets by Lucas and Howard, but after those points were scored, the Lady Falcons had a 13-0 run, taking the score from a 14-8 Whiteoak lead to a 21-14 lead by MHS. WHS scored the final points of the quarter with a basket by Howard for the 21-16 deficit. 

Minford led the third frame at 14-9, with Whiteoak’s points coming from a 3-pointer by Miley Walker, four points scored by Lucas (a 3-pointer and free throw) and two made free throws by Howard. 

In the fourth quarter, Minford scored nine points and the Lady ’Cats also added nine points to their final total. Whiteoak’s scoring included two points each from Taelyn Shriver and Webster, plus three points scored by Howard off a two-point basket and free-throw conversion. 

Howard led all Whiteoak scorers with 15 points, totaling three two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and she went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Lucas followed with eight points off two two-point baskets, one 3-pointer and she made one shot from the free-throw line. 

Scoring four points was Webster as she made two baskets, while Walker totaled three points from a 3-pointer, and Shriver finished with two points. 

As a team, WHS totaled eight two-point baskets, four 3-pointers (Howard 2, Lucas 1, Walker 1), and they were 4-of-13 from the free-throw line. 

Minford was led in the scoring column by Davis with 18 points, totaling four two-pointers, two 3-pointers, and she went 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. Other final scoring totals for the Lady Falcons included: Carter (2), Makenna Enz (8), Ava Flaig (6), Laney Howard (6) and Kasee (4). 

Team totals for Minford were 14 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers, and they were 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. 

Cumberland talked about his team and how they are working to keep improving on the court. 

“They're developing, a little slower than I would like, but they’re developing. It's never going to be as fast as I want, but for me, I’ve got to be patient. I know that. I want to win, but it's not about wins,” Cumberland said. “I knew this year would be like this, and I knew it was a tale of two halves, as far as the first half (of the season), and second half, when we lost everybody. We lost probably 60-70 percent of our scoring and rebounds, so I knew there's going to have to be other people stepping up. 

“But the good thing about that is, if these other girls can step up and get this experience now, that helps us going into next year. I’ll control what I can control, and we’re going to look forward to finishing these games and getting better every day. If we can do that, I’m happy.”

BOX SCORE
MHS    08 13 14 09 — 44
WHS    10 06 09 07 — 32

MINFORD (44) — E.Carter 1 (0) 0-0 2, K.Davis 4 (2) 4-5 18, M.Enz 2 (1) 1-1 8, A.Flaig 3 (0) 0-1 6, L.Howard 2 (0) 2-2 6, R.Kasee 2 (0) 0-0 4. TOTALS: 14 (3) 7-9 44. 

WHITEOAK (32) — M.Walker 0 (1) 0-2 3, J.Lucas 2 (1) 1-6 8, T.Shriver 1 (0) 0-0 2, E.Howard 3 (2) 3-4 15, L.Webster 2 (0) 0-1 4. TOTALS: 8 (4) 4-13 32. 

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