A great season came to an end last week for the Winston Academy Lady Patriots as the team ran up against the eventual Class 4A state champions in Central Hinds at Clinton Christian Academy.
Central Hinds proved to be too much for the Lady Pats as they had a 30-17 lead in the first half and kept extending on the way to a 59-26 win.
To get a shot at the Overall State Tournament, the Lady Pats were going to have to advance at State. Coach Gary Beals wasn’t worried about that as the coach just wanted a chance to see where his team stacked against a team that was considered a favorite to win it all and his team learned a lot from the matchup.
“I wanted to play the best,” Beals said. “They were expected to win it. They had a veteran team returning with a bunch of good ball players and everyone knew that was who you had to beat. I liked the opportunity of getting them in the first round. We gave it all we had.”
A three-point first quarter was what dug the Lady Pats into a hole. Central Hinds held WA without a field goal in the first 8 minutes of the game and the 14-point second wasn’t enough to make up any ground. After having an almost identical third quarter as the first, there was no chance at a comeback.
Braley Dickerson led the team with 10 points. WA’s leading scorer Julia Gregory was held to just four points in the game.
WA (18-12) didn’t end the season like they wanted to, but the Lady Pats accomplished a lot during the year. The Lady Pats were regular season district champions and finished as runners up in the district tournament – losing to host Oak Hill Academy. They went on to the North State Championship and had to play another host school in Kirk Academy in the semifinals and they took the eventual North champs to the wire before dropping the game by a point.
“It was a good season. We accomplished goals and had a chance to play in the state tournament. We learned a lot,” Beals said. “This group gave me all that they had. We played a lot of basketball that they weren’t used to and it was a good season.”
Looking ahead to next season, the Lady Pats will lose senior leadership. AnnCarter Perkins, Chloe Hillyer and Layton Nowell will be graduating and Beals will look to others to step up.
Gregory returns with another year of experience under her belt along with Dickerson and other key bench players Hayden Cheatham and Jillian Sims who could be assuming full-time starting positions.
“We’ve got a good nucleus coming back. 4A North is always going to be a challenge, but I feel like this years’ experience will go a long way to get us further along next year,” Beals said. “We have some young kids that got a lot of experience this year that got to play a lot and they will be key contributors.”
