Competition was high for Winston Academy last week at the Columbus Christian tournament, but both teams came up with heartbreaking defeats.
The Lady Patriots had a tremendous matchup ahead of them in a Morton team that has dominated play this year to the tune of a 15-0 start. Among some of those wins so far have been Meridian, Northwest Rankin and Murrah, but the Lady Pats still gave the Lady Panthers a good run.
Morton got out to an early lead and steadily built it through four quarters on the way to the 57-43 win. Leading 26-20 at halftime, the Lady Panthers would come out and extend that lead to 12 points in the third and they took home the victory.
Chloe Hillyer and Braley Dickerson led the way for the Lady Pats with 13 points each as Hillyer knocked in four 3-pointers and Dickerson was 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Julia Gregory had 10 points in the loss.
For the boys squad, heartbreak set in as a furious fourth quarter rally came up short in a 53-52 loss. It was the third quarter that doomed the Pats as the team scored just one point in the period. The team woke up in the fourth with 28 points that frame but they couldn’t quite get over the hump in the one-point loss.
Bryson Wright spearheaded the comeback as he scored 13 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and made a trio of 3-pointers in the game. Omar Scott scored 15 points.
The Lady Pats fell to 8-8 on the year and they’re 2-1 in district play while the boys are now 2-9 and 0-3. The teams travel on the road on Friday evening to take on Canton in another district showdown while playing at Starkville Academy on Saturday night. A district double-header comes next week as the teams will play at Carroll on Tuesday and host the Rebels on Friday night.
