By CHARLIE HUST
The WCHS Trojans improved to 17-1 last week with two more victories, clobbering Crittenden County on Tuesday, Mayfield Thursday night and holding off Graves County Saturday after the annual Homecoming festivities at Trojan gym.
Riding a 10-game winning streak, the WCHS will host a four-game “6th District versus 7th Challenge” on Saturday. The Trojans will battle Hopkins County Central at 7:30. WC will host Trigg County next Monday night.
Webster County 68
Crittenden County 35
“We had a very good first half,” noted WCHS head coach Jon Newton. That would be an understatement.
The Trojans’ swarming defense limited the visiting Rockets (10-3) to just 10 points in the opening two quarters last Tuesday night in Trojan gym.
An 8-0 run to start the game pushed the Trojans’ advantage to 20-7 at the first break. WC’s incredible defensive pressure intensified in the second period, holding the Crittenden County to just three points, stretching Webster’s advantage to 38-10 at halftime.
WC’s talented guard trio of Mason Roland, Zac Shoulders and Max McMain combined for 45 points in the victory with Roland netting 16, Shoulders 15 and McMain 14.
Jon Stubblefield added seven points and seven rebounds, Cayden Edmonson scored eight points and six boards followed by four points from Colten Durrance. Treiron Simms finished with three points and Chatman Ellis one free throw.
Webster County 75
Union County 42
by JERRY PAPINEAU
Cruise past Graves County in Homecoming matchup The annual homecoming matchup at Webster County High School brought the Trojans another win Friday night, pushing the boys’ season record to 17-1.
After a brief presentation of Homecoming Court, and the crowning of Seniors Mason Roland and Hannah Pritchett as King/Queen, the Trojans took the floor in preparation for their battle against the Graves County Eagles. Not expecting the win to come effortlessly, assistant coach Kenneth Hayes mentioned that “Graves County brings talent every year”, and that he expected the game to be well fought against the 11-6 Eagles.
Webster County came prepared for the Eagles, starting off strong to establish a 12-point lead by the end of the first quarter. WCHS Junior Jon Stubblefield recorded 13 points in the first eight minutes, including three 3-point buckets to account for over half of the Trojans 19 first quarter points.
By the second half, the Trojans had inched the lead to 13, leading the Eagles 32-19.
Out of the locker room the at-home Trojans held to their defense while maintaining a steady offensive pace, preventing the Eagles from closing the gap created during the first half.
Free throw practice paid off for the Trojans in the last eight minutes of play Friday as the Eagles defense expressed desperation in light of the 17-point score difference going into the last quarter. To the Eagles dismay, the Trojans shot 11-for-12 from the line, accounting for over half of the teams 21 4th quarter points.
Though the Eagles lead the final quarter with 24 points to the Trojans 21, the effort was simply not enough to overtake the deficit created earlier in the matchup, and WCHS walked off of the court with another victory.
Friday’s win over Graves County extended Webster’s win-streak into double digits, at 10 victories since the Trojans’ loss at home to Cordia in mid-December. The win also pushes their season record to 17-1, currently the best in the region. The Henderson County Colonels, ranked second in the state, hold close second at 17-2.
The Trojans and Colonels are scheduled to battle at the Trojan gym on Jan. 30.
Looking forward to the rival match, senior point guard Mason Roland offered that he and the Trojans needed to “stick to the game plan, play defense, and rebound well” to ensure a win at home on the 30th.