As sophomores, the three current Winston Academy Lady Patriot seniors learned a lesson about finishing a job.
Lilly Sisson, Bailey Wood and Madelyn Bright contributed on a team that played for a district title but came up short in game one of North State. That was a team full of seniors that never got the opportunity to compete for a state championship. That trio has worked hard to make sure they didn’t experience that feeling.
“I constantly remind them of that feeling. If you relax and don’t continue to come in day in and day out and work hard trying to get better, you’re going to be sitting at home,” WA head coach Moe Reed said. “Our seniors remember that year as sophomores and that’s been one of the lingering statements I’ve made all year long that they’ve got to get better every day.”
Not only did the Lady Pats make sure they punched their ticket to the state tournament, they went all the way to the North State title this past week at Heritage Academy. WA knocked off two ball clubs along the way before dropping another ball game to Leake Academy and they earned second place in the North heading to this week’s state tournament at Leake.
WA started things by taking on Indianola Academy last Tuesday. With the disappointment from missing out on state two years ago fresh on their minds, the seniors came out and dominated from the jump to ensure that wouldn’t happen again.
WA’s defense was stifling and the shots were falling as they took an 11-4 lead after one quarter and pushed it out to 28-6 at the half with an explosive second quarter. After leading 36-11 in the third, the senior starters rode the pine the rest of the game and they coasted for the 38-21 victory.
Sisson had a monster 20-point game in virtually two and a half quarters of play to lead the way for the Lady Pats.
“I thought we really came out focused and we knew that everybody at this point in time this season is good and have a reason for being here,” Reed said. “I knew that our length would probably affect them a good bit but I was proud of the way they were focused.”
Into the semifinals the Lady Pats had to take on a high-scoring North Delta team with the ability to put up points at all five positions.
The two teams went back and forth until the final quarter but the Lady Patriots’ outstanding defense was again the difference as they won 43-33 to book a trip to the finals. It was eighth grader Hailey Bradford who went off offensively in this game, scoring half of her team’s points with 22 in the game, while Sisson added 12 of her own.
As great as WA played in those first two games, all roads to titles have to go through Leake. For the fourth time this season, WA learned that the hard way.
The Lady Rebels dominated every facet of the game in a 59-23 blowout, the worst of the losses this year for the Lady Pats who had been competitive all season against Leake. It dropped them to 28-9 on the year with four of those losses coming to Leake and two of them in a championship game.
The biggest prize is still out there with a state title to be competed for this week and Leake will be the team to beat again as they host the tournament at their place beginning on Tuesday. As the No. 2 seed in the North, WA will play the South’s No. 3 in Hillcrest Christian on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. A win gets them a date with either Columbia Academy or Starkville Academy on Friday at 1 p.m.
Reed is excited to have the chance.
“This was the first time that we’ve made it this far in three years. We knew that we had to get over the hump to make it to (state tournament),” Reed said. “I really wanted to come out and have fun. I told them that maybe I’m not doing my job as a head coach of letting them have fun because we play so much better when we have fun and play basketball.”
