Not many people have been expecting much out of Winston Academy’s girls basketball team.
The Lady Patriots got a new coach in Kelley Greer and lost several starters from last season. They’re not using any of that as an excuse though, and they’re turning out to be much more of a threat than anyone felt they would be.
This would again prove to be evident last week when the Lady Pats traveled to Hillcrest Christian and took the Lady Cougars to the wire. Greer had no complaints about what would be a 41-39 loss as her team came back from a deficit of nearly 20 points and tied it with 2 seconds left.
Though the Lady Cougars hit a buzzer-beating jumper to get the win, Greer felt her team grew up again.
“Hillcrest is a very athletic team. We started out pretty good and then they got ahead of us pretty big,” Greer said. “It was one of the best comebacks that I’ve seen in basketball.”
Freshman Hailey Bradford has been a player that has had to grow up quickly to be a staple of the WA team. She started last season and it helped prepare her for what would be ahead and this year she’s off to a fast start.
Bradford finished the game with 21 points and hit two free throws to tie the game in the final seconds. With only a few players returning that played a season ago, Greer is excited to see what’s ahead after the team is off to a 2-2 start.
“My high school (team) is really going to go far,” Greer said. “We’re coming together as a team and they’re learning how to play defense. I think we’re going to turn out to be a lot better than people think. We’re starting two juniors and a ninth grader.”
The team has the week off due to Thanksgiving holidays but they’re back in action on December 3 when they travel to Starkville Christian. They’ll play Pillow Academy on December 5 as the tough schedule continues for the Lady Pats.
“They’re going to be tough and one of the best teams we’ve played so far,” Greer said of Pillow. “They’re a bigger school with some really good athletes so we’re going to have our hands full, but we’re excited for the challenge.”
BOYS
The Hillcrest boys have been a machine in the first few games of the season and things were no different on Friday against WA.
Hillcrest scored 34 points in the first quarter and coasted from there as they routed the Patriots 94-31 in the game. The Patriots were able to get 14 points in the opening quarter but never scored double digits the rest of the way in each period. Meanwhile, Hillcrest was leading 59-19 at halftime.
Brylee Wall continued to pace the team scoring as he finished with 14 points and hit four 3-pointers.
The Patriots will also be in action against Starkville Christian on December 3.
