A disappointing setback happened for Winston Academy girls basketball coach Kelley Greer and her team last week in a pivotal district matchup with rival Starkville Academy.
The Lady Patriots had prepared for the Lady Volunteers’ defense for a week and Greer felt there was a good plan in place to give themselves a chance to take home a big conference win. Instead, they came out and went scoreless in the first period.
WA’s bad first quarter never allowed them to recover as the Lady Vols would coast most of the ball game and take home the win in Louisville, 46-11.
An unhappy Greer postgame voiced her displeasure with how her team performed.
“We just weren’t running offenses. We worked on offense all week and that’s all we did in practice. They’re scared to have the ball in their hand and they don’t execute,” Greer said. “We’re going to run offense at practice this week until we’re blue in the face.”
After trailing 9-0 in the first quarter, WA could only muster six points in the second as they trailed 26-6 at halftime. They were out-scored 20-5 in the second half as points continued to be at a premium.
It was one of those games for Greer’s team as she thought defense did a good enough job to give the team a chance. She felt it was time to go back to the drawing board with her players this week.
“I’ve got to change some attitudes and get them in better shape,” Greer said. “Our press was pretty good and defense was pretty good but they were a little taller than us. We’ve got to work on all of those things.”
WA did bounce back on Saturday afternoon when it hosted Oak Hill at Farrell Rigby Gymnasium.
The Lady Patriots scored more points in the first quarter of that game than they did all game against SA and would roll past the Lady Raiders 45-33 to sweep the season series.
It was a 17-6 lead after one quarter for WA (8-7) and they lead 30-13 going into halftime. Oak Hill was never really in it as the Lady Patriots got back over .500 on the year.
It’s another big week for the Lady Pats as they will travel to East Rankin on Tuesday and then host the mighty Leake Lady Rebels on Friday.
BOYS
The losing skid continues for the Patriots as they fell to 2-12 on the year with losses to SA and Oak Hill.
While they dropped a 55-28 decision to the Volunteers at home on Friday, head coach Jordan Graham felt he saw his team growing up in many respects. The Patriots were down 16-2 early in the game but they fought to stay in it though the Vols were too much athletically.
“The things I’m looking at right now are the things that we can control like our body language, how we play defense and how we get after it. That’s how I’ve been evaluating games, not necessarily points and rebounds,” Graham said. “(Against Starkville Academy), the score didn’t indicate a lot of the good things that we did. As a young, growing basketball team you’ve got to capitalize on things that we’re given.”
The Patriots closed the game strong with 11 points in the final quarter but it was too little, too late. Johnson Wells was the leading scorer with 11 points in the game though the Patriots couldn’t get much production elsewhere.
On Saturday, the Patriots took one on the chin for the second time this season against a really good Oak Hill team. The Raiders came to town and surrendered just three points in the first quarter to take the 63-29 win.
The second quarter was actually tougher on the Patriots as they gave up 24 points and they were down 37-16 at the break. Oak Hill was in control from there. Offense was once again a problem for WA as Brylee Wall led the way with seven points.
Like the girls squad, WA has big district games against East Rankin and Leake this week. Graham is looking for more of what he saw from his team against SA. Steady improvement is the goal at this point in the season as he brings up this young team.
“I’m very proud of the effort that everyone put in,” Graham said. “I don’t feel like we’re there, but we’re in the right direction. That’s where I’m at after the game.”
