Earlier in the week, the EWHS boys team dropped its first game since 2020 as Houston broke up the Wolverines’ seven-game winning streak with a 60-42 win. It was an uphill battle for the Wolverines from the beginning as they trailed 22-9 after the first quarter and 32-21 at the half.
Chandler Hodges was the only double-digit scorer as he had 10 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.
Despite the loss, the Wolverines have put together a strong regular season and the boys and were looking to finish on a high note before the Class 2A, Region 2 tournament. They did just that as the Wolverines came out on top 71-52 in a game against Mantachie last Friday.
It was a strong defensive third quarter that allowed EWHS to pull away and they took a nine-point halftime lead and turned it into a 23-point lead at one point as they cruised to a good win at home.
“I feel like on defense we were really able to lock them down and hold them. We started off slow in the second half on offense, but we got going,” senior forward Kaleb Parrish said. “We’re ready for the postseason now. I feel like we’re definitely on an upward slope.”
Parish hasn’t been a player that has looked to score offensively as he takes pride in what he does on the boards and defensively. But a push from the crowd led to a late 3-point attempt and a swish at the buzzer to send everyone home happy and put a big smile on his face, too.
While he had seven points in the game, there were several Wolverines in double figures. Cael Chrismond had 16 points, Chandler Hodges had 14, Reid Gatlin had 13 and Blake Slay finished with 12 points.
Offense was effective for both teams from the very beginning as missed shots were few through the first 16 minutes. The Wolverines hit three-straight 3-pointers from Gatlin, Slay and Hayes Fason to take an early 13-7 lead and the home team was up 21-17 at the end of the first quarter.
While the Wolverines’ stayed hot, Mantachie tried to maintain pace as the Mustangs trailed 40-31 at the break. Ginn challenged his team to turn up the intensity on defense to try to pull away in the third and fourth quarters.
“We changed things up in the third quarter and approached it different and they never really figured it out. That was good, too, because we weren’t as efficient in the third quarter as we were in the first half,” Ginn said. “We talked at halftime that a nine-point lead is not safe with this bunch because they can really shoot it. I thought our guys did a good job of adjusting, especially on the defensive end.”
EWHS gave up just eight points in the third quarter as the lead grew to 53-39 and a 9-0 run put the game away for good as it got to 62-39 before the Wolverines were able to coast. It wasn’t bad for a team that had just a day or two to prepare and Ginn was happy to see the style of play from North Mississippi as those are the teams that could be the biggest of challenges in the postseason for the Wolverines.
“It’s a different style of ball. It’s something from north Mississippi,” Ginn said. “To see something like that was good for us because you don’t know in the playoffs who you’re going to match up with. You might get somebody like New Site or like them that will run the same stuff.”
Girls
The Lady Wolverines might be one of the hottest teams in 2A at the moment as they have now won 10-consecutive games to close the regular season.
The latest came last week against Houston on the road as EWHS knocked off the Lady Hilltoppers 63-57 in their own gym. The fourth quarter close led the Lady Wolverines to victory as they were down 47-44 heading into the fourth quarter. EWHS outscored the Lady Hilltoppers by nine points in the final frame to take home the win.
It was a hot shooting night for the Lady Wolverines as they hit 48% of their shots and made 18-of-33 of those inside the 3-point arc. Houston hoisted 35 3-pointers in the game and made 10 of them. EWHS outscored Houston 32-10 in the paint and turned the home team over 18 times.
Whitney Winter led EWHS with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and also had six rebounds. Shan Culpepper had 15 points and Meri-Grace Gregg and Lauren Graves each scored 11 points.
Up next for EWHS is the Region 2 tournament at J.Z. George on Tuesday in games that were played after press time. The Wolverine boys (14-5) are set to play JZG on Tuesday after EWHS earned the No. 1 seed heading into the tournament. The girls’ team is also No. 1 in the district and 15-3 getting set for this week’s tournament and were to play arch-rival Eupora.
A win by both teams will put them in the Region 2 championship game on Friday night with the girls playing at 6 p.m. and the boys at 7:30.
