Following a disappointing Mid-Mississippi Challenge loss to Morton High School, the East Webster Lady Wolverines got back to work last week.
There is still plenty ahead for EWHS this year as the team finished with the same Class 2A, Region 4 record with the Calhoun City Lady Wildcats but came up short in a head-to-head battle that decided to the No. 1 seed for the district tournament.
EWHS got back on track with two comfortable wins as the team was focused on finishing the regular season strong. It started earlier in the week against JZ George when the Lady Wolverines took home a 68-45 game and it wasn’t that close.
A theme for the week, EWHS came out in the first half and obliterated the opponent getting a 30-11 lead in the first against the Lady Jaguars and a 53-21 lead at the half to cruise on to the win.
It was one of the Lady Wolverines best shooting performances of the year as they shot 52% and it was because of the high percentage shots that the team took with a 2-for-5 night from 3-point range and an incredible 48 points in the paint. EWHS also allowed just 18 rebounds in the game.
Shan Culpepper had a big game with her 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Da’nasia Logan was also incredibly efficient scoring 17 points on 8-of-10 with five rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Shameriah Culpepper finished with 13 points while Lauren Graves had eight assists.
The Lady Wolverines came out locked in against Houlka holding the home team scoreless in the first quarter and pouring on a 27-0 start. Houlka scored three points in the entire first half of a 39-3 start and EWHS emptied the bench for the second half in a 55-14 win.
EWHS turned Houlka over 40 times and scored 31 points off of those turnovers and 22 points out in transition. The Lady Wolverines also outrebounded the opponent 40-25. In a shortened stint, Shan Culpepper and Logan led the team with 13 points and a combined 12-of-25 shooting. Logan had 10 steals, seven assists and five rebounds.
Graves had 11 points.
The Lady Wolverines (16-7, 4-1 Region 4) will close out the season this week against Houston on Tuesday and West Lowndes on Friday. The team is the No. 2 seed in the Region 4 tournament at Choctaw County in two weeks.
Boys
The Wolverines have hit a bit of skid here late in the season since knocking off Calhoun City a couple of weeks ago.
Two more losses last week has EWHS dropping four-straight games late in the schedule as the Wolverines lost to J.Z. George in the final Class 2A, Region 4 game and then to Houlka.
In a key district game against J.Z. George, the first quarter doomed the Wolverines. EWHS scored just five points in the opening frame and fell behind 17-5 and never could fully recover. However, EWHS outscored the Jaguars the rest of the ball game with a 13-8 second quarter, an even 13-13 third quarter and a 21-20 advantage in the fourth. The first stanza was the great equalizer.
It was a rough shooting night for the visitors as EWHS shot just 32% and were an ice cold 7-of-30 from long range. JZ George also dominated the rebounds 48-30. Hayes Fason had 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting from long range while Chandler Hodges was just 4-of-14 overall and had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Against Houlka, the Wolverines saw the game gradually slipping away starting with the second quarter when the 17-16 lead went to 29-22 at the half with the Wolverines scoring just six points in the quarter. Houlka outscored the Wolverines in all four quarters on the way to a 63-47 win.
EWHS shot just 33% from the field and 5-of-18 from 3-point range as well as 8-of-19 from the free throw line. Hodges finished with 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting and 2-of-5 from 3-point range with five rebounds. Fason had 11 points but was just 3-of-10 from long distance. Zy Ford had 11 rebounds but just two points.
The Wolverines (8-15, 2-3 Region 4) have grown accustomed to battling Calhoun City for the district tournament championship but this year those two teams will play in the first round of the tournament next week. The winner of that game will take on host and No. 1 seed Choctaw County.
First, they played the final home game of the regular season on Tuesday against Houston and they’re scheduled to play at West Lowndes on Friday night to close things out.
