It’s been such a successful run of games by the Winston Academy Lady Patriots over the last several weeks that they haven’t been tested with adversity and quick turnarounds following them.
That changed last week when Winston went to Leake Academy and lost its first MAIS 2-AAA ball game of the year and had to come right back and play on Thursday night against Heritage Academy.
WA was facing off with Leake in Madden in what was a key conference contest that would determine the leader of the pack in district play. The two teams played each other close for the first couple of quarters but Leake’s talented and deep roster finally took hold of the game and they won 59-38.
“I think we competed, but they just kept rotating five people in and out and wore us down. We played hard but they jumped on us,” WA coach Moe Reed said. “I challenged the bench a little bit. Their bench scored 18 points to our one so we’ve got to get more out of our players other than our seniors.”
The seniors led the way in the game with 12 points each from Madelyn Bright and Bailey Wood and Lilly Sisson added 10 points in the loss.
After that defeat, Reed wanted her team to show their experience and poise and take care of business two days later.
They came back home to take on Heritage Academy and it was back to that business-like attitude as they dominated the other Lady Patriots in a 53-28 win. Sisson had 18 points, Bright had 14 and Wood had 12 as the trio of seniors continued their big season. Reed said it was those three that took charge and made sure that the team stayed on the right track following the first conference loss.
“We came back Thursday and played really well against Heritage,” Reed said. “I’ve got three really mature seniors that are great leaders. Us coming back on Thursday and playing well says a lot about their maturity. They do such a good job of being good leaders and everyone else just falls behind. They really set the tone for our entire team so I knew that they wouldn’t hang their head.”
While the Lady Patriots (17-6, 3-1) still have a tough road ahead, they’re in position to at least finish second in the division which puts them in great shape in the district tournament and in postseason play.
Before they get there, every game has to be of the utmost importance down the stretch. They have a three-game week that started on Tuesday against district opponent Canton Academy, they’ll play again on Thursday at Columbus Christian and finish off the week on the road at Winona Christian on Friday.
“I like the three game weeks because it makes the weeks go by quicker. It will be good for us,” Reed said. “We won by two at Canton earlier this year so hopefully we can come out and not have such a close game. We struggle with them usually so that will be tough.”
BOYS
After getting the first conference win in four years a couple of weeks ago at Starkville Academy, the Winston boys have hit a bit of a snag with three-straight losses against three competitive teams.
WA dropped a game two weeks ago against Oak Hill and followed that up last week with a 82-61 loss at Leake Academy and a 65-41 loss to the state’s top team at home against Heritage Academy.
Against the Rebels of Madden, WA out-shot Leake 44 percent to 41 percent. They took a 16-point halftime deficit and cut the game to five after the third quarter and then the floodgates came open for Leake shooters.
The home team scored 30 points in the final quarter to create the difference in an otherwise incredibly even matchup. WA dominated the paint where they scored 52 points to Leak’s 30. The Rebels won the rebounding margin by seven with 19 offensive boards being a big piece of the success.
Noah Dempsey had one of his best offensive performances of his career in the game with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds. Nash Vanlandingham had 13 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out and Collin Mills scored 12 points.
Blake Peterson had nine points and 12 rebounds.
The Patriots had to follow that tough game up against one of the best teams in the state, regardless of classification. Heritage came to town with an 18-2 record and left with another win in the 24-point defeat. It was the first half that was enough for Heritage in the win as they held a 43-15 advantage. It was smooth sailing from there.
Heritage shot just 36 percent in the game but they turned Winston over 21 times and scored 29 points off of those turnovers. They also out-rebounded the home Patriots 44-32.
Mills would be the only player to notch double figures for WA as the senior had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, but he had seven turnovers. Vanlandingham had six points and 10 rebounds.
WA (13-9, 1-3) has a chance to get back on track this week by also playing Canton, Columbus Christian and Winona Christian. The Patriots lost by seven at Canton earlier this season and beat Columbus Christian 54-41 back in November.
