The Lady Patriots of Winston Academy moved to 13-4 on the season and won their 13th game in the last 15 contests with a 49-23 blowout on the road. against Nanih Waiya
The win came behind 16 points from Hailey Bradford and 13 each from Bailey Wood and Madelyn Bright. The Lady Patriots have now won consecutive games and are currently 6-1 in the month of December.
Next up for the Lady Patriots is a tournament at Lamar School where they play Southern Academy from Greensboro, Ala., to tip things off. They get back to 2-AAA play when they travel to Starkville Academy on Jan. 4.
BOYS
It was rematch Thursday for Winston Academy traveling up the county to take on Nanih Waiya at their place and the Warriors would return the favor this time around.
After taking the first game against the two teams at Winston earlier this month, NW used a strong first three quarters and held off a late rally by the Patriots to win 53-52 on Thursday night.
It was a chance for WA coach Justin Childs to go up against his former high school coach Jason Morgan for the second time this season. This time, Morgan won the battle of the two close friends.
“We were really sluggish offensively and Nanih Waiya was hitting from inside and outside. Coach Morgan did a great job preparing his team for what we do well, and ultimately neutralized a lot of our strengths,” Childs said. “I’m very proud of the guys for never quitting and clawing back into the game to have a chance at the end.”
The Patriots trailed 9-5 in the first quarter and Nanih Waiya kept pace by leading 25-17 at the half. Things appeared to be heading south in a hurry as the Warriors came out of the locker room and pushed the lead out to 38-25 but Childs’ team was bound to fight back.
WA trimmed the lead down as the final quarter wore on and had cut it to four with 2:34 remaining. It was a one possession game on a couple of different occasions late in the ball game but the Patriots couldn’t get the stops they needed. A 3-pointer at the buzzer led to the one-point final.
“We played much better defense in the fourth quarter and it produced offense, but we had dug too big of a hole to come out of and our comeback attempt fell short,” Childs said.
Blake Peterson led the way with one of his best games of the season as he poured in 21 points on the night. Collin Mills was behind him with 15 points.
The biggest issue in the game for WA was at the charity stripe. The Patriots were just 11-of-23 from the free throw line as they left some easy points off of the board. It ultimately was the difference between winning and losing the game as they needed just two more of those to drop.
Next up for WA is the Columbus Christian Tournament on December 28 where they will play Pickens Academy.
