Starkville Academy has been a thorn in the side of Winston Academy over the course of time and wins have been hard to come by along the way.
This has especially been the case on the hardwood where the boys and girls have been underdogs in most of the matchups. Friday night was validation of hard work and years of frustration for the Patriots.
The big night at SA started with the girls as the Lady Patriots led from start to finish and used a big block from Bailey Wood on the Lady Volunteers’ star sophomore Lillee Alpe’s 3-pointer as they held on for a 36-33 win.
“We really fought hard. I thought that Lilly Sisson really stepped up and was a really good senior leader. She fought underneath the basket and made some tough shots,” head coach Moe Reed said. “I was on Bailie Wood hard about guarding Alpe and I thought she fought through it. We’ve still got a lot to work on and get better at.”
Wood and Sisson each had 13 points in the victory to help the Lady Vols to a 2-0 start in 2-AAA play. They were key in getting Winston out to an early lead that they would hold for most of the ball game.
The Lady Patriots jumped out to a 10-2 start before SA could blink and they were up 13-6 at the end of the first quarter. Alpe helped keep the Lady Vols in the ball game as she hit three-consecutive 3-point shots to tie the game up at 17 with 2 minutes left in the half but Winston got the final six points to go to the locker room up 23-17.
Leading 31-25 going to the fourth quarter, Winston struggled to find offense as they went five minutes with just two points and saw the lead dwindle down to nothing late. Tied up at 33, Lilly Sisson hit two clutch free throws with 30 seconds left and Madelyn Bright added another with 9 seconds to set up that final possession.
Alpe’s look from long range was blocked by Wood out on the perimeter and one more heave went wide of the rim as the Lady Patriots survived.
“They’re such good outside shooters and we knew that going in. Getting back in transition is hard because there are five girls that can shoot the 3,” Reed said. “They run their offense really well and if you set screens and shoot well, you’ll stay in any game.”
A day after winning that big district contest on the road, Winston traveled to West Point to take on Oak Hill. The Lady Patriots took care of business in that game as well with a 43-24 victory thanks to Wood’s 21 points.
That moved WA to 17-5 on the season as the Lady Pats get set for the biggest test of the year against perennial power, Leake Academy. Winston was set to visit LA on Tuesday night in what could be a pivotal game for district title hopes.
