All of the regular season games are complete and now it’s time to play the games that really matter.
For the WInston Academy girls basketball team, 2018-19 has already been a year to remember. The Lady Patriots sit at 25-7 on the season with two 2-AAA losses on their record to the state’s top team in Leake Academy. It has put WA in the No. 2 spot in the district as they head to Madden on Thursday for the beginning of the district tournament.
Before they got to this point, they had to finish out the regular season strong and they did just that last week.
WA started the week by traveling to Heritage Academy for the final district game of the year. The Lady Patriots won a gutsy ball game 49-44 to clinch that No. 2 spot in the division and finish perfect against Canton Academy, Starkville Academy and Heritage on the season.
Lilly Sisson had a huge night with 24 points and Bailey Wood finished with 13.
WA also had to go to Kirk Academy in the final regular season game of the season against the defending No. 1 team in the state. Wood and Hailey Bradford each had 13 points each to lead WA to a tight 39-37 win.
The district tournament begins on Tuesday with Heritage and Canton playing and the winner meeting Leake in the semifinals. WA will meet up again with Starkville Academy who they’ve beaten twice by three points each time. That game takes place on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.
BOYS
After finding themselves inside the top 5 in the state midway through the season, WA’s boys have hit a wall late in the year.
The Patriots went to Starkville Academy to begin the new year on January 4 and earned their first district win in three years with a 70-47 blowout. They have not been able to sustain that success, however, as they closed out the regular season losing nine of the last 10 games and four-straight.
Heritage took the first game of the week with a 68-31 win in Columbus and the Patriots lost 65-29 on the road at Kirk Academy. In the final regular season game, WA shot just 28 percent from the field and 2-of-15 from 3-point range while giving up 19 points on turnovers and failing to score on the seven turnovers they forced.
Noah Dempsey was the leading scorer with nine points in the loss.
WA also matches up with Starkville Academy in the playoffs on Tuesday at 6:15 as the Patriots are the No. 4 seed and the Volunteers the No. 5. The two teams play for the right to face off against Heritage in the semifinals.
