Nanih Waiya’s boys used a big fourth quarter to earn their second win in as many weeks, pulling away from Winona Christian School late for a 47-36 victory last Thursday in the Columbus Christian Academy Christmas Tournament.
In the first day of the Columbus Christian tourney, Nanih Waiya fought tooth-and-nail with undefeated Victory Christian before falling 47-42 in overtime. They rebounded the next day with the double-digit win over WCS, improving to 2-14 on the year.
Nanih Waiya’s girls are also 2-14 on the season now, as they dropped a 40-39 heartbreaker to host CCA on Wednesday and lost 55-18 to Class 4A Pontotoc on Thursday.
Both Nanih Waiya teams will be in action Friday, when they travel to Class 2A Union.
Next week, the Warriors and Lady Warriors will begin region play with a trip to Hamilton to Tuesday (Jan. 9) before returning home to host Vardaman on Friday (Jan. 12).
Nanih Waiya was in a seesaw battle with Victory Christian last Wednesday before falling to the Rams, who won both of their tournament games and are now 13-0 on the year. In fact, no one had played VCS within single digits entering the tournament.
Nanih Waiya was up by three after one quarter, down by five at halftime and up by five after outscoring Victory 19-9 in the third period.
The Warriors were still up 41-37 midway through the fourth, but did not score over the final 3 minutes, 37 seconds as Victory tied things up – then outscored Nanih Waiya 6-1 in the extra period.
Isaac Eiland threatened a triple-double with 23 points, nine rebounds and nine steals while Chris Smith scored nine points and had five rebounds and Bryce Stanton scored seven points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Jaynus Williams chipped in six rebounds for Nanih Waiya, which recorded 24 steals in the contest: Nine from Eiland, five from Smith, three each from Stanton and Jordan Higginbotham and two each from Williams and Tyquan McCully.
In the Warriors’ win over Winona Christian on Thursday, Nanih Waiya outscored the Stars 23-11 in the fourth quarter.
Nanih Waiya led 24-17 at halftime, but went scoreless in the third quarter to go down 25-24.
The Warriors quickly took control in the fourth, then knocked down enough free throws to keep the Stars at bay over the final frame.
Eiland had eight free throws in the final period and finished with 32 points, nine rebounds and four steals to lead the Warriors.
Smith had seven points and three steals; Stanton had six points and seven rebounds; Higginbotham had 12 rebounds and three blocked shots; and Williams had eight rebounds.
Nanih Waiya’s girls also came up short in a seesaw battle with the host Lady Rams from Columbus Christian on day one of the tournament Wednesday.
The Lady Warriors were down by two after one quarter, up by three at halftime and up 28-23 going into the fourth.
CCA opened the final period with a 9-2 run to go up 32-30. Nanih Waiya retook the lead at 35-34 on two free throws from Hope Thames with 2:31 left, but CCA scored the next five points and never trailed again.
Thames finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals to lead the Lady Warriors. Madison Alford had six points and four assists; Ashley Higginbotham had five points and seven rebounds; Dallyn Nance chipped in three points; and Hanna Higginbotham had five rebounds and three assists.
The Lady Warriors fought with Class 4A Pontotoc for a quarter before getting overpowered on Thursday.
Thames scored five points in that loss, Caitlin Bell had four and Alford three.
