MASON, W.Va. — A long time coming.
It had been over a month since the last time the Wahama girls basketball team tasted victory but a 53-48 triumph over Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division guest Southern put the Lady White Falcons back in the win column.
Wahama (2-12, 2-9 TVC Hocking) took the 4-3 edge over Southern (2-12, 1-10) two minutes into play Monday night. The Lady Falcons then went on a 3:30 11-0 run to expand their lead to 12 points. SHS out scored Wahama by one point over the remainder of the period and trailed 21-10.
The Lady Falcons started the second period with a 7-to-3 spurt that extended their lead to 15 points. The Lady Tornadoes scored seven unanswered to end the half but trailed 28-20.
After the break SHS cut the lead to one point with a 7-0 run. Southern couldn’t take the lead however and trailed 33-32 with eight minutes left in the game.
Less that two minutes into the fourth quarter the Lady Tornadoes grabbed their first lead of the game. SHS gave up their lead after Wahama went on a 10-to-2 run, fueled in part by a technical foul assessed to Southern coach Scott Cleland. The Purple and Gold battled back to tie the game with two minutes remaining but failed to take the lead as WHS sealed the 53-48 victory.
“They played hard all four quarters and they won,” Wahama coach Julia Hoffman said. They did the little things I asked of them the entire game like boxing out, good defense, good passes and just little things like that won us the game.”
Sierra Carmichael led the Lady Falcons with 24 points on the night, followed by Kelsey Zuspan and Mackenzie Gabritsch with 11 apiece. Paige Gardner finished with three points, while Olivia Hill and Bunni Peters each chipped in with two points to round out the WHS total.
This is Wahama’s first win since December 6th when the Lady Falcons defeated Miller.
“It feels good and the girls are all excited,” Hoffman said about snapping the losing skid. “That’s only our second win of the season so it feels awesome, we’re all pumped.”
Wahama shot 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from the free throw line in the game.
“You have to play four quarters to get a win and we played three and a half,” Southern coach Scott Cleland said. “They’ve played hard the last four or five ball games but I think mentally we let them take us out of the game.”
The Lady Tornadoes were led by Celestia Hendrix with 14 points, and Jansen Wolfe with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Huddleston notched 10 points including a pair of three-pointers, while Kyrie Swann marked seven points and six assists. Shelby Pickens rounded out the Lady Tornadoes scoring with six points on the night.
Southern has now lost nine consecutive contests dating back to December 10th when the Purple and Gold triumphed over Wahama 69-45 in Racine. This is Southern’s fifth loss by five points or less this season.
“They’ve battled down the stretch the last five or six games and they’re getting better,” Cleland said. “I saw a lot of good things but there were just some opportunities that were taken away from us.”
SHS shot 8-of-20 (40 percent) from the charity stripe and 18-of-44 (40.9 percent) from the field including 4-of-13 (30.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
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