This late in the season and with the number one seed in the Class 2A, Region 2 tournament secured, Jon Ginn is guarding against complacency.
The coach of the East Webster Wolverines has seen his team take care of business pretty regularly this year but still want to maintain the momentum going into the postseason. They did just that last week as they traveled to J.Z. George and then hosted Houlka.
Last Tuesday against J.Z. George, the Wolverines were capping off the Region 2 schedule and dominated the Jaguars 76-46. A slow start was countered in the second and third quarters as the Wolverines pushed the game way out of reach.
“It would have been an easy game to come out and be lethargic knowing they were struggling. Our second unit came out and got us motivated in that game after we started really slow,” Ginn said. “After that, we pretty much rolled. That’s part of the luxury of having a deep team.”
After leading 17-10 in the first quarter, the team racked up 29 points in the second and 20 in the third quarters to push that lead to 66-35 and the game was in hand. EWHS shot 43% from the field and made 16-of-23 free throws while scoring 24 points off of 30 turnovers.
Cael Chrismond led the team with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 5-of-6 from the foul line and also had six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The next challenge came on Thursday as the Wolverines took on a dangerous Class 1A school in Houlka. The Wildcats already had Ginn’s attention earlier this year when they came to the East Webster Christmas Classic and got a win over Choctaw County.
After getting a big lead in the first half, however, Ginn’s team was on the ropes. A double digit halftime lead was erased and set the stage for a classic shootout that ended with the Wolverines victorious, 86-83.
“We were up by 12 at halftime and in great position. They did what great teams do and within 4 minutes had taken a one point lead,” Ginn said of the Houlka game. “Our guys were on our heels so it was an opportunity to fold but the guys dug in. It was back and forth and both teams I thought played really hard.”
Leading 46-34 at the half after two strong offensive quarters, EWHS lost that lead quickly in the third quarter. Houlka scored 25 points and got back in the game as the visitors even took the lead in the third quarter before it got knotted up. A back and forth final frame went the way of the Wolverines down the stretch and they were able to sneak out with a three-point win.
Houlka shot 53% from the field to EWHS’ 44% and the visiting team made 8-of-20 3-pointers. Free throws were crucial for the Wolverines with 21-of-26 made and the team also hit nine 3-pointers themselves.
Chrismond was huge again with 22 points in the game making an outstanding 10-of-10 free throws and dishing out four assists. Omarion O’Briant had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting with five rebounds, Hayes Fason had 11 points with a trio of 3-pointers and Cade Morrow finished with 10 points, 7-of-9 made from the free throw line, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
EWHS now continues what’s been a highly successful season with the team sitting at 19-7 with a perfect 5-0 finish in Region 2. The regular season Region 2 title is the Wolverines and the team goes into next week’s district tournament at Calhoun City as the No. 1 seed.
The regular season completes this week with a couple of good matchups. The team went to Houston on Tuesday to play the Hilltoppers and Friday night will host North Pontotoc at 7:30 p.m.
“I just want to see us come out and have no drop off – to keep our focus. Our goal is to go in and compete at a high level in the district tournament,” Ginn said. “I want to see us come out with that intensity and no let up in either one of our games. That game at Houston has a chance to be a really good game on their home court.
Girls
The girls kicked off each of the matchups with JZ George and Houlka by completely dominating the two teams and equaling the Wolverines’ production with a 2-0 week last week.
Coach Courtney O’Briant-Wright’s team put together two nearly identical blowout victories. It started with the Lady Jags of J.Z. George as EWHS scored nearly 50 points in the first half and won 77-38. The Lady Wolverines outscored JZ George 49-22 in the first half and held the team to single digits in each of the final two quarters.
The Lady Wolverines shot 52% from the field and turned the home team over an incredible 41 times which resulted in 45 points. EWHS also had 23 assists in the game. Da’Nasia Logan had 23 points with 8-of-12 shooting from the field and a double-double as she swiped 10 steals. She also had four rebound and three assists.
Shameriah Culpepper finished with 12 points, 6-of-9 shooting, six assists and four steals.
It was much of the same on Thursday against Houlka. After giving up just two points in first quarter to remember, the Lady Wolverines won the game 71-32. EWHS got out to a 25-2 lead and gave up less than 10 points in three of the four quarters including two quarters with one two points scored.
Despite the 71 points scored, it was a miserable night shooting for EWHS. The team was just 28% (17-of-63) and 31% (4-of-13) from 3-point range but made 25-of-39 free throws to account for a large chunk of the final. Defense again led the way for the Lady Wolverines with 27 points off of 38 turnovers and an incredible 71 rebounds to 45 advantage.
Culpepper had 19 points on 7-of-14 with eight rebounds, seven steals and three assists and Logan had 11 points but was just 3-of-17 from the field. Logan had nine steals and eight rebounds, nearly notching a triple double. Yasmine Roberts and Larkin Conner had 11 and 10 rebounds respectively.
The girls will also play Houston and North Pontotoc this week, but the Region 2 tournament seeding is still unknown. At 18-8 and 5-1 in Region 2 play, the Lady Wolverines are in a three-way tie with Choctaw County and Calhoun City for the one seed but the Lady Chargers had a fight against JZ George last week that could result in suspensions. As of Monday morning, the outcome of the MHSAA’s decision was unknown.
The Lady Wolverines would own the tiebreaker of Calhoun City but not over Choctaw County.
