Sports
Waterford Knocks Down St. Joseph to Reach Districts
By: Nick Viland
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Steal after steal the Waterford Lady Wildcats stole their way to cut down the nets in Pomeroy. Waterford’s defense showed up on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the St. Joseph Flyers 43-16 in the first round of the playoffs.
It’s survival of the fittest from here on out and defense is a key component of what makes Waterford so hard to beat.
Points didn’t come easy for the Flyers. The Waterford defense held St. Joseph to only two field goals in the entire first and limited them to only six points.
On the offensive side of the floor, the Lady Wildcats had the upper hand in time possession. They had control of the entire game. Although, they had possession for the majority of the game they had a rough shooting game. They were able to free up open three-point attempts for each other but went only 3-for-17 from behind the arc.
“Offense, we didn’t shoot that well, but as long as you play great defense in this time of the year, you’ll give yourself a chance” Waterford head coach Jerry Close said about his team’s performance today.
What benefited the Lady Wildcats on offense was being able to create second chance opportunities. Despite their inconsistency in shooting today, they managed to get 20 offensive rebounds.
Waterford had a hunger to win, no matter the score throughout the entire game. “I was really proud with the intensity we had. The kids played hard the whole way through, and that was the strongest effort we had all year. Everyone played really intense today” Close said.
Waterford hopes to keep their intensity up as they move into the District Playoffs, playing Manchester High School on Saturday, Feb. 23 at noon.