With district play underway, the Lady Patriots of Winston Academy are trying to get a foothold at the top of the division, and they took a major step last week.
WA had a two-game challenge during the week with a road trip to Oak Hill and a home game of Winona Christian that would be major measuring stick ball games. It would be a 2-0 special for the Lady Pats as they stayed undefeated in district play and continued a nice run of success.
The week tipped off with a tough matchup on the road against the Lady Raiders. Last season, WA took a loss in the regular season at Oak Hill and then again in the district tournament. Inside a tough place to play in West Point, WA found a way to come out on top in a 50-35 triumph.
“That was a big win and we played really well,” coach Gary Beals said. “We’re not closing games out well though. It did mean a lot to get over the hump against them. When we’re on our game, we can go in anywhere and play. We’ve got to be focused and ready to play and they did that.”
The third quarter was the difference in the ball game as the Lady Pats would explode on both ends of the court. WA outscored Oak Hill 21-4 in the quarter and went from a 21-20 halftime lead to pulling away with a 42-24 advantage.
Braley Dickerson was the catalyst in that third quarter as the senior post player scored 12 of her team’s points. She finished with 17 in the game, as did Julia Gregory who scored 13 points in the second half. The performance for Gregory also sent her over 1,000 points for her career as she hit a major milestone.
“We got (Dickerson) the ball and she stepped up and was the difference. They didn’t have an answer for her,” Beals said. “(Gregory) has meant a lot for us. She leads by her work ethic and all of the kids respect that because no one works harder than she does. She studies the game and knows how to manage the game. She’s the person you want to get the ball the last 2 minutes.”
Gregory would lead the way in a defensive matchup against Winona Christian on Friday night as the Lady Pats won 35-26. WA was in control most of the ball game but only had two points in the final quarters. Still, it was yet another district win.
Heading into the week, WA (7-3, 3-0) had won six-straight games and are playing good basketball. That was again put to the test on Thursday when the Lady Pats had to travel to Carroll Academy in a game that took place after press time.
Beals likes the way that his team is winning ball games, but the squad will have to expand its game to take the next step.
“If Julia’s not making shots, we’re in trouble. If you play us a zone and control the pace, it creates problems for us,” Beals said. “We’ve worked on some post moves and some things to try to get to the line or finish in the paint. We’re going to see a lot of zone.”
WA’s boys team fell on hard times in their two conference matchups. In the first game against Oak Hill, the Patriots fell behind early and it snowballed in a 72-37 defeat.
Oak Hill grabbed a 20-7 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 37-20 at the break. The lead would continue to expand in the second half and the Raiders ran away with the victory.
Jackson Hudson scored nearly half of his team’s points as he poured on 18 in the loss.
At Winona Christian, the Pats again had trouble getting points and they surrendered 20 points in the opening quarter for the second-straight game. That led to a 29-15 halftime advantage that would be insurmountable in the 52-22 loss.
In this loss, Hudson upped his percentage of points as he scored 13 of the 22.
WA fell to 1-7 and they’re 0-3 in district play.
