Sports
Waterford Wins Despite Poor Shooting
By: Connor Martin, Tony Heim
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Dani Drayer drove hard to the basket for an easy bucket within the first five seconds of the game giving Waterford (15-0,12-0) a lead over Southern (12-5, 10-3), and it would never relinquish.
The Waterford Lady Wildcats jumped out to an early 6-0 lead. Although the team could only make 30 percent of their shots from the field, Dani Drayer and Alli Kern helped carry the team to a 56-49 victory over the Lady Tornadoes.
Both teams exploded in the fourth quarter, each dumping 20 points. However, Waterford coach, Jerry Close, was not happy with his team’s defensive effort as Southern was able to get to the line often. The Lady Tornadoes capitalized on their opportunities, cashing in on 20 points from free throws alone.
This brought Southern to within six points late in the game, though Waterford kept playing hard and fought off the comeback. Largely due to Dani Drayer shooting 12/13 from the line and finished with a team high 19 points to go with six rebounds and five steals.
Drayer’s partner in crime, Alli Kern dropped 17 points, with eight of those coming in the first quarter. Kern single-handedly outscored the entire Southern team in the first, as they could only muster seven points to their nine turnovers.
Southern cut down on its turnovers in the second quarter, only giving up three. This led to a 13-3 run pulling them within two, entering halftime down 24-26. With all the momentum on the home team’s side, the wind was picking up for the Lady Tornadoes but a four point third quarter seemed to seal their fate.
Even though the Lady Wildcats entered foreign territory and left with a win, coach Close was not pleased about their performance.
“We had a bad game tonight,” Close said. “We need to work on our defense and boxing out.”
Though, even on a down night, Waterford proved that it is a winning team and has what it takes to go deep in the postseason.
The Waterford Lady Wildcats have a huge matchup on Wednesday January 25, 2016 against West Virginia’s third ranked AAA team, the Parkersburg South Lady Patriots. Southern will look to return to its winning ways in Belpre on Thursday, Jan. 28.