It’s been a few weeks but Winston Academy was back on the court for a full schedule of games last week.
Both teams had to play a challenging schedule filled with district opponents as the Patriots went head-to-head with Heritage Academy, Leake Academy and Lamar School. The girls came out on the best end getting one win in those three games.
That win came to tip off the week at Heritage as WA (4-7,2-4 District) got a season sweep over the other Lady Patriots. Defense clamped down on HA as Winston didn’t surrender more than nine points in a single quarter and won the game 38-26.
Senior Lana Boatner led the team with 12 points and Hailey Bradford had 10 points in her first game back in over a month. Bradford had a concussion before Christmas break that kept her out of multiple games but she appeared to ready to go in her return.
The road was much tougher for the Patriots on Thursday against Leake. One of the state’s best programs continues its march through the private school ranks with that same dominance and the Lady Rebels trounced WA 71-16. Leake had a 44-10 lead at the break and the game was never in doubt for them.
Olivia Mayo led the Lady Pats in scoring with four points.
The Lady Pats had a much better showing on Friday against Lamar. After struggling offensively in the first half and being outscored 23-11, WA made a run in the second half. The Lady Pats closed the lead to 30-25 by the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get much closer as they fell by nine points.
Ann Carter Perkins was the leading scorer for the Lady Pats with 13 points in defeat.
The boys squad lost all three games last week as well.
In a 86-29 loss to Heritage, Will Catt and Triston Hayles scored 11 points each. The Patriots fell 59-26 on Thursday against Leake and Hayles had 10 points in that game. Trey Williamson scored 12 points in the final game of the week as WA lost to Lamar 61-28 to close the week.
“We showed some improvement through the week. We played really good defense against Lamar on Friday we just couldn’t stick with them in the second half,” head coach Jordan Graham said. “I’m challenging them to grow, keep pushing and keep getting better. In that facet, we’ve been really successful. There’s going to be time where things don’t go our way but to keep fighting and we do that.
The boys fell to 0-9 on the year and 0-6 in district play. The teams will be back in action this week with more big games.
WA hosts Starkville Academy on Tuesday in district action, step out of district to play Bayou Academy at home on Thursday and travel to East Rankin on Friday.
