By CHARLIE HUST
The WCHS Trojans posted two more hard-fought, on-the-road victories last week and remained undefeated at 7-0.
Webster rallied for wins against McLean County and Paducah St. Mary.
The Trojans will take a holiday break before hosting Christian County on Jan. 6
Webster County 65
McLean County 62
After building as much as a 20 point lead in the third quarter, the Trojans had to gut-it-out and hang-on the victory over a very talented Cougar squad last Tuesday night in Trojan gym.
“We started playing very uncharacteristically of how we normally play. We were up by 20 but acted like were down by 20 and took rushed shots,” noted WCHS head coach Jon Newton. “That gave them (McLean) the momentum and they have a very strong offensive team. They have several nice players that will cause any team problems with shooters on the wings and two very active post players.”
Good free throw shooting down the stretch along with two big baskets from senior guard Mason Roland “saved the day” for the Trojans, improving their record to a perfect 6-0.
Roland finished with a team-high 17 points along with nine assists and five steals to lead four Trojans in double figures. Cayden Edmonson was also in double figures with 15 points plus six rebounds. Zac Shoulder added 12 points and six assists. Jon Stubblefield contributed with 11 points and five rebounds.
“The guys really responded well down the stretch in a very close game. We hit free throws and then came up with a big defensive stop on the last possession of the game. Overall I’m pleased to walk away with a win. It was a big team win for us,” Newton concluded.
Senior guard Max McMain, making his first appearance for the Trojans in the new season, added six points and five assists while Colten Durrance add two points. Shawn House also scored two points along with four rebounds.
Webster County 56
St. Mary 47
After falling behind by six points in the first quarter, the Trojans put together another strong finish to improve to 7-0 last Thursday night in Paducah.
“They did a great job of taking us out of our style of play for the opening eight minutes. But I thought our defensive intensity really picked up in the final three quarters and our guys really competed for 32 minutes after falling behind early,” stated Coach Newton.
Behind six points from Mason Roland and a 3-pointer from Zac Shoulders, the Trojans stormed back in the second quarter to cut the lead to just two points at intermission. Roland led WCHS with 16 points while Shoulders finished with 11.
“We were able to get several deflections that led to turnovers and easy transition baskets at our end,” Newton continued. “The last two games I thought we responded well in close situations and those are the types of tests that we need if we want to achieve our goals at the end of the season. St. Mary is a very disciplined team and I thought we really played hard after a long bus ride and against a good team.”
Max McMain and Jon Stubblefield both added nine points in the victory while Cayden Edmonson finished with six points, Shawn House three points and Colten Durrance two.