A two-game set against the Carroll Academy didn’t come to fruition thanks to severe weather, but the Winston Academy Patriots made the most of their first matchup against the Rebels.
Both boys and girls teams were able to come away with victories with the boys earning their first district victory of the year.
The boys squad got out to a lead in their matchup and had to hold on for dear life in the fourth quarter before escaping with the 61-58 victory. WA led 13-12 in the first quarter but built on that leading 28-23 at the half. After extending it out to 48-39 with a huge 20-point third quarter, the Patriots had to fight off a late rally from the Rebels before winning it.
Bryson Wright had a big game with 20 points on the evening and he made four 3-pointers to help the team get the elusive first district win. Omar Scott added 17 points including a 13-point second half and James Yarbrough scored 13 in the win.
The victory improve the boys to 2-10 and 1-4 in district play.
The WA girls moved to 10-8 on the season and are now 4-1 in division play after a convincing 60-46 win. A 20-point second quarter sparked the Lady Pats to get out to a lead that was safe.
Braley Dickerson had 16 points to lead the way and had a big fourth quarter at the free throw line making 5-of-5 with a total of 11 points in that final frame. Jillian Sims came through with 14 points off the bench and her eight-point third quarter led the way to keep the team in the lead.
“The boys played good in spurts and the girls played well enough to win,” coach Gary Beals said. “Anybody that plays physical with us inside, we struggle. They had a couple of really big girls that gave us trouble, but Jillian Sims had a really good game for us to help get us over the hump.”
The two teams were slated to play Winona Christian in district action on Tuesday but that game was in doubt as of this writing due to winter weather. The teams were also expected to play Oak Hill Academy on the road on Friday night and it’s a big one for the girls chances at the No. 1 seed.
“We’ve got to be smarter and shut them down with second chance point with the girls. If we can eliminate the second chance points, I think we have a chance,” Beals said of the girls against Oak Hill. “Our boys have to control their guard. He can really score. We ran out of gas against them early in the year. We’ve got to have somebody other than Bryson to step up.”
After taking on Oak Hill on Friday night, WA must turn right back around on Saturday and play Hatley boys at 3 p.m. at Choctaw County’s Mid-Mississippi Challenge in Ackerman. The girls will take on Houston at 4:30.
