By Robbie Robertson
The Webster Progress Times
The East Webster Lady Wolverines won two out of three games and finished third in their own Christmas Tournament.
The Lady Wolverines opened the tournament with a 58-50 win over Oak Hill Academy and then dropped a 51-35 decision to Starkville Academy. In the third-place game on Saturday, the Lady Wolverines beat Winston Academy 44-38.
Mari-Todd Brown and Kadasha Bryant were named to the all-tournament team.
East Webster moves to 7-6 on the season and will return to action on Thursday with a division contest at Calhoun City and then host Ethel on Friday.
East Webster girls 44,
Winston Academy 38
The Lady Wolverines finished third in the tournament as they beat the Lady Patriots by six points.
The game was tight in the first half as East Webster led 11-9 at the end of the first and 25-21 at the half. The Lady Wolverines pulled away in the third as they outscored the Lady Volunteers 13-9 in the third to lead 38-30 heading into the fourth.
Kadasha Bryant led East Webster with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Mari-Todd Brown had 12 points while Isha Patterson had nine points and nine rebounds. Whitney Winter also had five points and seven rebounds.
“Kadasha Bryant played her best game of the season,” East Webster coach Michael Seger said. “You expect a three-year starter at point guard to step up in big games. She definitely did that for us tonight. Mari-Todd Brown and Isha Patterson continue to be big for us offensively. It’s good to see Mari-Todd shooting the ball like she's capable of doing.”
Starkville Academy girls 51,
East Webster 35
The Lady Volunteers broke open a close game in the tournament semifinals as they outscored the Lady Wolverines 15-2 in the fourth to take a 16-point win.
Starkville led 14-10 at the end of the first and 31-24 at the half. East Webster closed the gap in the third, outscoring Starkville 9-5 to cut the lead to 36-33. But the Lady Volunteers pulled away in the fourth with a 15-2 advantage.
“Starkville really executed well in the fourth quarter and we didn't knock down open shots. Credit them. They're really good!” Seger said. “Starkville is hard to guard because they have four girls that really shoot it well plus good size inside.”
Isha Patterson led East Webster with 13 points while Alexis Bell added 11 points.
East Webster girls 58,
Oak Hill Academy 50
The Lady Wolverines jumped out to a quick lead and held on to take an eight-point win.
East Webster started quickly as they led 21-9 at the end of the first and 30-19 at the half. East outscored Oak Hill 18-17 in the to lead 48-36 heading into the fourth.
“I thought we did a really good job of finding the open girl in transition early in the game,” Seger said. “That allowed us to get some really good 3-point looks. Mari-Todd (Brown) broke out of a shooting slump in a big way, but her defense was really a big factor in the game tonight. She came up with several steals and scored some tough buckets in the lane."
Mari-Todd Brown led East Webster with 21 points as she made four 3-pointers, had six steals and five rebounds. Alexis Bell had 16 points as well with four 3-pointers to go along with 10 rebounds and five steals. Isha Patterson had eight points and 10 rebounds while Kadasha Bryant had seven points and five rebounds. Mariah Bell also had five steals.
