Sports
Waterford Loses First Game to Lady Patriots
By: Alex Harrison
Posted on:
The Waterford Lady Wildcats haven’t lost since last season’s state championship game, but Parkersburg South, one of West Virginia’s top teams, put the Wildcats back into the loss column with a 63-58 win at Waterford.
The Wildcats had the 27-25 lead at half, but the Lady Patriots took over the second half, but not by much. Parkersburg South only outscored Waterford 38-31 in the final two quarters.
The Lady Patriots were only up 46-44 at the end of the third. Waterford was always just that close, never fully getting the lead but also never getting taken out of the game. The highest lead Parkersburg South had in the fourth quarter was only six points.
With only seconds remaining in the game, Waterford was down five. Regan Porter made the bucket and was fouled, cutting the lead to three with a chance to get a point closer. Porter missed the free throw and Waterford’s best chance to come back bounced off the rim with it.
Porter made a clutch free throw earlier in the game, however. Down, Porter made the basket with the and one to tie the game at 25 with 2:50 left in the half. The game remained tied until Waterford scored again with 1:23 to go.
Both teams played relatively well, but the Lady Patriots were just a tad better, especially handling the ball and shooting behind the arc. No player had over two turnovers and Parkersburg South had a total of 11 turnovers where Waterford had 15 total. From three point land, the Lady Patriots nailed seven while Waterford could only sink three.
For Parkersburg South, Jordan Johnson was lights out with 22 points, shooting six of eight from beyond the arc. Waterford’s Dani Drayer, usually solid from the arc, missed her first five attempts and was only two of nine total. Drayer did have 19 points, but her eight turnovers had more of a game impact.
Waterford’s Coach Close mentioned that teams can often learn more from losing than winning. Waterford will have to learn quickly as its remaining schedule is deceivingly tricky. Waterford’s (15-1) schedule has six more games in the regular season, four of which are in conference. The out of conference games will cause trouble as the Lady Wildcats will challenge Fort Frye (13-5) on Saturday and will seek redemption against Parkersburg South (11-3) in February.