By CHARLIE HUST
Webster County girls’ basketball team split a pair of games last week, trouncing McCracken County on Tuesday but then falling to a strong Ohio County squad on Saturday. WCHS not stands 14-9 on the season.
The Lady Trojans are back in action Friday night, taking on arch-rival Union County in Morganfield. They are back on the road Saturday, traveling to Indiana to battle Evansville Reitz.
Webster County 55
McCracken County 38
Webster’s full-court, in-your-face pressure defense was more than the visiting Lady Mustangs could handle Tuesday night as the Lady Trojans raced out to a 10-0 lead in the opening minutes of the contest in Dixon.
Webster forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter and didn’t allow McCracken County across mid court until the 5:59 mark of the first quarter.
And the WCHS offensive assault came from all angles as six players scored in the first period. Christian Papineau, Kristen Keeney, Bailey Townsend, Hannah Pritchett, Darrian McNary and Kaylee Duncan combined for a commanding 20-6 lead at the first break.
The WCHS scoring binge didn’t stop there. Bailey Townsend hit consecutive jumpers followed by a 3-pointer from Maddie Duncan to open the second quarter as the Lady Trojans grabbed a 27-8 advantage. They closed out the period with a 38-18 lead and never looked back as Coach Tonya Wells implemented her bench for the most of the second half.
Keeney led Webster’s balanced scoring attack with 12 points, 10 coming in the first half. Pritchett and McNary added eight points each while Townsend and Hallie Gibson finished with seven points apiece. Maddie Duncan scored six points, followed by four points from Kaylee Duncan and three from Papineau.
Webster enjoyed one of its best night of the season at the free throw line, hitting 20-of-27 attempts, 12-of-15 in the final 6:11 on the game.
Webster County 45
Ohio County 57
The Lady Eagles hit 13-of-15 free throws in the fourth quarter, including 11 straight with under 4:01 to play to slip past WCHS Saturday afternoon at Trojan gym.
It was a ‘dog fight’ for the Lady Trojans as they fell behind for the get-go against the Region 3 powerhouse. Webster trailed 15-9 at the first break and 24-17 at intermission.
After trailing 28-19 with 6:59 to go in the third quarter, the Lady Trojans received a spark from Hannah Pritchett. She scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer, to trim the deficit to 28-24. The relentless Webster defense also picked-up the pace and created back-to-back turnovers from the Lady Eagles, both on steals from the lighting-quick Pritchett. She fed Bailey Townsend for an easy layup on the first theft and then was fouled on the second steal and converted on both free throws to tie the game at 28-all. Pritchett finished with 13 points, nine in the third quarter, along with six steals.
Darrian McNary, who led the Lady Trojans with 18 points, intercepted another Ohio County pass and converted on a driving bucket at the other end to give Webster it’s first lead, 30-28, since the first minute of the game. McNary scored
But that rally came to a quick end when Sequoya Huff converted on old-fashioned 3-point play to give the lead back to the Lady Eagles. Ohio then converted an easy layup on one of Webster’s seven turnovers in the third quarter to take a 35-28 advantage. OCHS closed out the period with a slim 37-34 advantage.
Ohio County kept the lead the remainder of the game but the Lady Trojans wouldn’t quit, cutting the advantage to 44-42 on a 3-pointer from McNary with 4:18 left in the game.
But the veteran Lady Eagle squad was near-perfect at the free throw as they close out the contest with a 13-3 run, with five different players scoring in the final 3:13 of play. All 11 of Webster’s points in the final quarter came from McNary.
“We have to have other players step up and score, make big plays for us, especially against a team as good as Ohio County,” noted WCHS head coach Tonya Wells. “We got down early and I was very proud of how we came back. We made some bad decisions at opportune times and tried to force the ball into places. Just foolish mistakes against a very good team and they took advantage.”
Kristen Keeney and Bailey Townsend added four points each while Christian Papineau, Kaylee Duncan and Hallie Gibson added two points apiece.
Webster struggled with its shoots (31 percent) from the field and managed 13-of-22 from the free throw line. The Lady Eagles drained 18-of-24 attempt from the charity stripe.