Late Start Doesn’t Slow Cardinals

WAITSBURG - Though they had to shake off some nerves during the first half of their game against Weston-McEwen, the WP Lady Car­dinals came out regrouped after their break and beat the Tigerscots confidently in a lob-sided 45-19 victory. Head Coach Jerry Baker said he wasn't surprised his team came out a bit flat-footed in their first game of the season against an op­ponent that already had five games on the court, but he was pleased with the way the girls turned on the heat in the second half keeping Weston-McEwen to only 7 points while scoring 33 themselves. "We struggled a little bit in the first half," said Baker, re­ferring to a tied game (12-12) at half time. "The second half we played like we should have been playing." The girls went into the locker room, laughed off the first half and regrouped, he said. The first quarter was a low-scoring affair with the Cardinals getting lots of shots but few finding the basket. The ones that did put WP head 8-2 at the end of the period, but the Tigerscots quickly eroded their lead with a string of unanswered points. The Cardinals' biggest challenge was their own execution under the basket because the team had plenty of fast breaks. WP took an immediate lead during the third quarter, thanks in part to several treys from Krystal Harris and Kristin Potter that seemed to ignite the offense and excite the crowd. They were followed by fast breaks that were much better executed and strung together in a long series of two pointers for which the Tigerscots had no answers. The third quarter gave the Cardinals a 20-point margin, ending 36-16. In the fourth quarter, Weston-McEwen tightened its defense but could only slow the WP invasion on its side of the court. The Cardi­nals still outscored them 9-3 thanks to accurate shots from outside the key that helped cement the victory 45-19. Keeping the Tigerscots from scoring while pouring it in their basket was the key to the girls' first success of the season.

"The defense kept us in the game," Baker said. "I was happy with that. We did a good job."

Harris led the point scor­ing with 13, followed by Pot­ter with 9 and Ronnie Hulce with 6. Dionna Baker led the team in rebounds with 10.

The Cardinals were plagued by turnovers - 25 in all and didn't perform well from the free-throw line (5/13). They have two more practices before they face the Dayton Bulldogs on Friday at home. "We need to work on shots and running offense," he said. "We can't afford to shoot like that (first half) this weekend."

WP GIRLS

WP vs Weston-McEwen

WP 8 4 24 9 45

WM 2 10 4 3 19

WP (45): Krystal Harris 13, Kristin Potter 9, Ronnie Hulce 6, Kayla Huxoll 4, Genesis Pearson 3, Dionna Baker 3. Free throws: 38%