Whiteoak Lady ’Cats are headed to district finals; defeat Ripley for 3rd time this season 

CHILLICOTHE — Tuesday night saw the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats move one round closer to achieving a big goal of theirs from the start of the 2024-25 season. 

In the Division VI SE District Semifinals, the No. 3 seeded Lady ’Cats used a very strong fourth quarter to defeat a Southern Hills Athletic Conference foe, the No. 6 Ripley Lady Blue Jays, 41-29 at Southeastern High School. 

The win gives Whiteoak an opportunity to play for a district championship, a title they haven’t won since the 2002-03 season. 

“We scored 17 points in the fourth and (Ripley) scored five, so that was big,” WHS head coach Cole Schaefer said. “I know we shot some free throws at the end, and we missed only two free throws all night, so that's what you really like to see.

“I thought we did a great job holding their leading scorers to under their season averages, so I thought we did a great job there. Kylee and Torie, two of our seniors, had big games, so I'm really proud of them, showing up for the program when we needed it most. 

“I’m always going to touch on the senior leadership. When we get up and we get a lead, the seniors kind of take over. I like being a little hands off with it. If the girls talk their own stuff about how they're going to game plan, that’s perfect, I'll be there just to moderate them.”

The district semifinal game saw the Lady ’Cats trail 9-6 at the conclusion of the first quarter as shots struggled to fall through the hoop, but Whiteoak (16-6) was first to score with a basket by Torie Potts with the assist from Jillian Lucas with 6:54 on the first quarter clock. Lucas ended the game with seven points. 

RHS (15-9) answered with five straight points off three free throws and a layup from the trio of Raquel Hackney, Callie Fultz and Brooklyn Manning for a 5-2 lead over Whiteoak. Manning finished with 10 points for Ripley, and Hackney totaled nine points. 

WHS answered with a jumper by Addison Roberts — who totaled seven points — but the Lady Blue Jays came back with four consecutive points off a jumper by Justyce Cracraft and two free throws by Grace Taylor, as Taylor finished with six points.  

Whiteoak was the last to score points in the first with an underhand shot made by Roberts with 27 seconds left in the first. 

Ripley held a three-point lead at halftime by a 18-15 score as RHS was first to score in the quarter with a there-point play by Hackney, but WHS answered with a three-point play by Kylee Hamm, followed by two free throws made by Potts and two more layups from Hamm for an 8-0 run and a 15-12 Whiteoak lead with 4:35 remaining in the second frame.

Hamm led Whiteoak with 16 points, totaling five two-point baskets, one 3-pointer, and she was 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. Potts totaled 11 points, totaling two two-point baskets, one 3-pointer, and she went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.  

After a Ripley timeout with 3:04 on the clock in the second, RHS finished the second with six straight points for a three-point lead at halftime at 18-15. 

The third quarter ended with the score tied at 24 as Whiteoak outscored the Lady Blue Jays, 9-6 in the frame. 

RHS started the third by extending their lead to five points with a steal and layup by Taylor, but WHS battled back with a put-back basket from Lucas, two made free throws by Potts and a three-point play by Hamm for a 22-20 WHS lead with 3:38 on the third-quarter clock. 

Ripley battled back by taking a one-point lead over Whiteoak with a timely 3-pointer by Alyssa Fisher with 2:47 left in the quarter. The Lady ’Cats scored two points with a shot off the glass by Roberts at the 1:48 mark of the third, and RHS tied the score with a late free throw to end the third at 24 points for each team. 

Then came the fourth frame, and the Whiteoak squad walked onto the court as a whole different team, outscoring Ripley 17-5 in the final eight minutes to stamp their ticket to the district final game. 

Whiteoak opened the fourth with five points from Potts as the senior sank a 3-pointer — her second of the season — and made a two-point basket within the first minute of the frame for a 29-24 lead. 

After RHS scored a basket with a jumper from Manning, WHS went on a 8-0 run with a basket by Lucas, followed by two free throws made by Lucas, and a layup from Hamm while being fouled. Lucas added another two points with a fast break basket with around 5:00 left in regulation for an 11-point lead at 37-26. 

Ripley made a 3-pointer, but it was too late for a comeback by the Lady Blue Jays as Whiteoak ended the scoring in the game with a 3-pointer by Hamm with 3:15 on the clock and a free throw by Roberts with 1:22. 

WHS regained possession of the ball with around a minute left in the game and kept possession of the basketball until time ran out for the 12-point win. 

Coach Schaefer spoke about the final minutes of the game. 

“I think it was a collective sigh of relief from everybody that was wearing orange tonight,” Schaefer said in describing running out the final minute of the game. “We talked about using some clock. Hopefully we can use some of the things learned tonight and being in close games to apply that to the next game in the district finals.”

During the regular season, Whiteoak defeated Ripley twice by scores of 58-45 at RHS (Dec. 5) and 59-52 at WHS (Dec. 14), as Whiteoak has defeated Ripley in at least their past nine meetings. 

Next for No. 3 seeded Whiteoak is their Division VI SE District Final game on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Southeastern High School at 2:30 p.m. vs. No. 2 seeded Belpre (16-7). This postseason, Belpre has defeated Paint Valley (60-27) and Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant (48-31). 

This postseason, WHS has also defeated Peebles (59-47). 

BOX SCORE
RHS    09 09 06 05 — 29
WHS    06 09 09 17 — 41

WHITEOAK (41) — K.Hamm 5 (1) 3-3 16, J.Lucas 3 (0) 1-2 7, A.Roberts 3 (0) 1-2 7, T.Potts 2 (1) 4-4 11. TOTALS: 13 (2) 9-11 41. 

RIPLEY (29) — A.Fisher 0 (1) 0-0 3, C.Fultz 0 (0) 1-2 1, G.Taylor 2 (0) 2-2 6, A.Taylor 1 (0) 0-0 2, B.Manning 1 (2) 2-2 10, R.Hackney 2 (0) 3-5 7. TOTALS: 6 (3) 8-11 29. 

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