WOODWARD — West Central Valley outscored Woodward-Granger by 12 points in the second half to score a 49-43 come-from-behind win in girls WCC basketball Tuesday.
The Wildcats held a 12-10 advantage after the opening eight minutes of play, but the Hawks used a strong defensive effort to fuel a 16-8 second quarter to give the hosts a 26-20 lead at the intermission.
WCV (6-6, 5-4) closed their deficit to a single point with a 14-9 third frame that put the score at 35-34 in favor of the home team, but a 15-8 surge over the final eight minutes more than erased the gap and gave the Wildcats — who defeated the Hawks, 61-43, in Stuart Dec. 1– a season sweep.
“In the second half we just could not make enough shots to maintain the lead and WCV’s size gave us some trouble on just enough possessions to swing the game their way,” W-G head coach Gary Dresback said. “We also gave up far too many offensive rebounds in this game. We are not very big, so we have got to work harder at staying with our box outs until the shot falls to our level. Too often we get caught watching the ball and not boxing out and the other team ends up with second or third chances, and that was a big part of this game.”
W-G (1-8, 1-8) shot well at the foul line, hitting on 8-of-10 free throws, but the Wildcats went to the line twice as often, sinking 12-of-20 at the stripe.
Jennifer Dudley had 20 points for WCV, with Grace Dupuy adding 11 points, Lilly Smithson and Kristin Culp seven points apiece and Taylor Beane four points.
Mary Hansen had 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for W-G, with Kaitlyn Peters scoring eight points and pulling 10 caroms while Kayley Dresback had seven points and two boards. Riley Jamison had six points and two rebounds, Kendra Husmann four points and four boards and Alyssa Bice two points and three caroms. Dresback and Jamison had three assists apiece and Bice two, with Husmann making three steals.
W-G returns to action Friday with a visit from WCC foe Des Moines Christian.
