By CHARLIE HUST
The WCHS Lady Trojans made a statement at the opening of Monday’s first round of the Sixth District Tournament against Union County.
“We mean business!”
The nearly two-week layoff from action didn’t seem to bother Webster as the Lady Trojans used a fast start and then held off a late charge by the Bravettes to win big 62-42 at Colonel gym in Henderson. It was the third time this season WCHS has defeated Union County as the Lady Trojans raised their record to 18-9, stretching their winning streak to nine in a row including 11 of the last 12 games.
“Our kids had a little pep talk before the game ... coaches were not invited,” WCHS head coach Parker McCalister quipped. “They were ready to play tonight. It was a great team victory with just about every girl making a key play at some point in the game.”
Kaylee Duncan drained a pair of 3-pointers and Hannah Pritchett added another long-range bomb within the opening 90 seconds of the contest to jump-start the WCHS offense to a quick 9-0 lead. The two steals were just a sample of Webster’s potent defense which generated 20 Union County turnovers in the game.
Union (14-14) closed the gap to 18-12 at the first break but Webster picked up the pace again in the opening minutes of the second quarter behind a lane jumper from Kristen Keeney plus a rebound and putback from Hallie Gibson to build a 24-12 lead with 5:02 left in the first half. The inside duo continued to dominate as Gibson took a nice feed on the low block from Hannah Pritchett for a turn-around jumper and Keeney stripped a rebound from two Union players and stuck it back in the basket for a 26-12 lead.
Christian Papineau added a bucket off a WCHS steal on the full court press followed by another short jumper by Keeney to stretch the lead to 32-12 with 1:41 remaining in the period.
The Bravettes battled back with a pair of steals and layups to trim the margin to 32-19 but Keeney’s 8-foot jumper beat the halftime buzzer lifting the Lady Trojans to a 34-19 lead at intermission.
Keeney, who scored 10 points in the second quarter, posted her 15th double-double of the season to lead the WCHS girls with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds.
“What can I say, Kristen was just outstanding again tonight. She’s proving herself to be one of the best players in the region, that really showed tonight. And ‘Pap’ came off the bench and gave us an outstanding effort with great energy,” McCalister added. “She did everything that doesn’t really qualify as a statistic but it just helps you win.”
Gibson opened the third quarter with a baseline jumper but Union fought back with an impressive 9-0 run to cut the lead to six points, 36-28 at the 3:24 mark of the quarter.
UCHS out-scored Webster 15-7 in the period and trimmed the lead to 38-32 on a pair of free throws from Hannah Bennett with 1:19 left in the quarter.
Gibson halted the surge with a layup off the feed from Jala Woolfolk ending the quarter with a WCHS 40-34 advantage. That would be as close as the Bravettes could get.
Kaylee Duncan sparked a fourth quarter run with a 3-pointer to begin the final frame. After a UC basket at the other end by Mikayla Thompson, Kristen Keeney hit two free throws and Christian Papineau swiped a UCHS pass and feed Keeney under the hoop for a 47-36 lead with 5:49 to play.
Papineau then converted 1-of-2 free throws, followed by a steal and easy layup from Woolfolk to push the lead to 52-36 with 4:21 to go and give the Lady Trojans control of the game.
“Jala did a fantastic defensive job on Mikayla Thompson, holding her to just two field goals in the game. That was huge because she is such an important part of Union’s offensive setup,” the WCHS coach added.
Gibson and Duncan both added nine points in the balanced WCHS scoring attack while Woolfolk finished with seven points and five from Papineau. Pritchett added three points along with two points each from Jaime Winstead and Jessica Winders. Kesley Payne and Karlie Keeney added one free throw each.
Webster out-rebounded its arch-rival 29-25 with Gibson adding five boards along with three each from Woolfolk, Papineau and Pritchett. WC also had an impressive assist total (13) as Gibson, Papineau, Pritchett and Duncan dished out three each.
The Lady Trojans struggled a bit from the free throw line, hitting just 12-of-21 while the Bravettes stayed close in the first three quarters with good free throw shooting (14-of-17).
Webster will take on a powerful Henderson County squad Thursday night in the Sixth District championship game. HCHS, the state’s second-ranked squad, has beaten the Lady Trojans twice this season. Both teams will advance to next week’s Second Region Tournament scheduled to begin Monday night at Rocket Arena at Crittenden County High School in Marion.