WEBSTER COUNTY, KY (2/22/12) – Webster County Lady Trojans won their sixth straight game Monday night and the victory couldn’t have come at a more crucial time.
WCHS dominated arch-rival Union County in 59-41 in the opening round of the Sixth District Tournament at Henderson County High School. Webster will take on Henderson in the championship game of the tourney tonight (Wednesday) and also earned a berth in the Second Region Tournament scheduled for next week at Christian County High School.
In Monday’s victory the Lady Trojans came out firing on all cylinders to take command early. Webster’s last loss came at the hands of the Bravettes and WCHS head coach Christina Whitsell questioned her squad’s effort and intensity in the contest. The Lady Trojans left no doubt in the mind of the coaching staff that they weren’t ready for their season to come to and end just yet.
“Our girls played very hard and with lots of emotion and jumped out to the big lead. It was a fun game to coach. When the girls are playing hard and that kind of emotion, good things will happen,” noted WCHS head coach Christina Whitsell stated. “It’s a good feeling to make it back into the regional tournament.”
A 7-0 run to start the game gave Webster a lead they would never relinquish. Kolbi Edens had a pair of jumpers in the run while Brooke Ross added the other three points. Raven Sprague stopped the run with a 3-pointer and Cailyn Chambliss grabbed a rebound and putback to cut the lead to 7-5. But that would be as close as the Bravettes would get the remainder of the game.
WC guard Darrian McNary checked into the game and it quickly became the ‘McNary Show’. The talented sophomore guard scored five straight points, including a pair of steals in the run. Kolbi Edens followed with another bucket and the Lady Trojans raced out to a 14-5 lead with 1:25 left in the opening stanza. The quarter ended with Webster on top 14-8.
The Lady Trojans continued their relentless defensive pressure in the second quarter, employing a 2-3 zone that squelched any Union County penetration, taking away their powerful inside game.
“Defensively we talked well and played as a team. We also emphasized boxing out and rebounding and the girls did a better job of that, especially our guards getting into the paint and getting rebounds,” Whitsell continued.
McNary, who finished with a season-high 23 points, opened the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers lifting WCHS to a 20-10 lead. She canned a trio of 3-pointers in the victory. Mariah Herrera swiped one of her game-high six steals and dished to Ross for a 22-10 advantage. Webster closed out the half with a 28-14 lead as McNary came off the bench for 13 points while Edens added eight and Ross seven.
“They (Union) really sagged off our guards last time we played with the exception of Kolbi. So we stressed for Darrian and Mariah to attack the middle of their defense. I thought we executed our game plan well on both ends of the floor,” noted Whitsell.
Sprague opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer but Herrera intercepted another pass for an easy layup and Edens drained a 3-pointer to stretched the WCHS lead to 33-18. A steal by McNary and an outlet pass to Edens at the other end gave Webster a 35-18 lead with 5:40 left in the third quarter. After a driving bucket from McNary and another ‘run out’ from Edens on a steal from Herrera, the Lady Trojans owned a 39-20 lead, the largest of the game. But the Bravettes fought back with a 8-0 run and cut the advantage to 11 points, 39-28 with 2:12 to go in the period. That didn’t phase the WC girls at all. Edens hit another short jumper followed by a driving hoop from McNary.
Webster then gained possession for the last shot of the quarter and Edens drilled a 3-pointer from the deep corner at the buzzer to lift Webster to a 46-28 lead heading into the final eight minutes of the game. That would be the difference as both teams scored 13 points in the final eight minutes as Coach Whitsell substituted freely in the period with the big lead. Edens finished with a season-high 20 points, including two 3-pointers. Ross was also in double figures with 11 points while Herrera finished with five.
Webster forced 18 UCHS turnovers but struggled at the free throw line, hitting on just 8-of-22 attempts. Union County owned a slight edge in rebounding 31-27, but were just 5-of-21 from behind the 3-pointer arc.
Lady Trojans cruise in regular season finale The WCHS Lady Trojans closed out the regular season in dominating fashion Friday night with a 61-38 victory over Crittenden County in Trojan gym. WCHS led from the opening tip, swiping numerous passes for easy layups in a second quarter surge that put the Lady Trojans up 32-15 by halftime. Mariah Herrera and Kolbi Edens led the charge with 16 and 15 points respectively. Herrera did most of her damage on coast-to-coast drives while Edens drained a trio of 3-pointers.
Webster led 12-8 at the first stop as the Lady Rockets tried to hold on and make a game of it. But the CCHS turnovers mounted in the second quarter, eight to be exact, and the WCHS girls pulled away. Webster held a 14-13 scoring advantage in the third quarter and closed out the contest with a 15-10 run. Christian Papineau scored eight points plus four rebounds in the very balanced scoring attack while Darrian McNary finished with seven points. Hayleigh Dame added six points and four rebounds followed by five points from Brooke Ross. Kristen Keeney and Macye Davis came off the bench to score two points each.
Charlie Hust
Journal Enterprise
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