WAVERLY KNOCKS DOWN SCHOOL-RECORD 16 3-POINTERS IN 84-31 WIN OVER TIOGA
By: Tim Birney | WaverlyAthletics.com | February 23, 2021 | Photo courtesy Tim Birney
WAVERLY — Senior Gabby Picco connected on a pair of 3-pointers to start
the second quarter, and Waverly kept knocking them down from behind the
arc, pumping in a school-record 16 in an 84-31 win over Tioga here
Tuesday night in IAC girls basketball action.
Waverly coach Bob Kelly was impressed with his team’s offensive performance.
“Wow, 16 3-pointers — that’s impressive. That’s some pretty good shooting.
“They
were going in, weren’t they?,” laughed Kelly. “Yeah, we shot it well.
And, it’s good when it’s coming from a lot of places.”
Eighth-grader
Addison Westbrook scored a career-high 23 points and led the Lady
Wolverines with six 3-pointers, including four in the fourth quarter,
while Picco finished the game with 17 points and five 3-pointers. Senior
Sidney Tomasso scored 21 points, and had a trio of 3-pointers.
Sophomore Kennedy Westbrook, who had 11 points, and freshman Peyton
Shaw, who had five points, each had one 3-pointer.
“How many 3s did they have tonight?” said Tioga coach Joe Robinson. “They could not miss; that was something else.”
In
a sign of things to come, Kennedy Westbrook drained a 3-pointer just 12
seconds into the game, then Tomasso and Westbrook scored lay-ups in
transition to make it 7-0.
After a bucket by sophomore Reese
Howey put the Lady Tigers on the board with 6:55 remaining in the first
quarter, Tomasso scored on an offensive rebound, and Westbrook and Picco
scored fast-break lay-ups to make it 13-2 just 2 1/2 minutes into the
game — forcing Robinson to call his second time out of the game.
“We
thought our pressure could cause them problems,” said Kelly. “Every
game, we try to get off to a good start, and get some early momentum. I
thought we did that tonight.”
After another bucket by Howey,
Picco drained her first 3-pointer of the game to make it 16-4, but
senior Eve Wood answered with a 3-pointer, and Howey and senior Olivia
Ayres added buckets in a 7-0 spurt that trimmed the deficit to 16-11
with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter.
The scoring pace slowed
for a few minutes, and senior Ari Manwaring’s putback on the offensive
glass pulled Tioga within four points, at 17-13, with 58 seconds
remaining in the opening stanza.
“We had a good stretch their at
the end of the first quarter,” said Robinson. “Believe it or not, I
think we played a little better than we did (Saturday), although it may
not look it on the scoreboard. We took care of the ball a little better,
and didn’t have as many turnovers.”
Tomasso scored in transition with 19 seconds left to give Waverly a 19-13 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Picco
knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to make it 25-13 with 6:46 remaining
in the first half, triggering a 14-2 run, which also including a pair of
treys by Tomasso, to extend the lead to 33-15.
Wood scored on a
shot jumper to open the second-half scoring and trim the deficit to
38-22, but that was as close as Tioga would get.
After a pair of
free throw by Shaw, Tomasso knocked down a 3-pointer and a baseline
runner, before Picco’s trey capped the 10-0 spurt that pushed the lead
to 48-22 with 5:05 left in the third quarter.
Addison Westbrook
drained a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in the third quarter to extend
Waverly’s lead to 56-26 entering the final eight minutes. She added four
more treys and scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to fuel Waverly’s
25-point outburst.
Wood led Tioga with 11 points, while Ayres
added eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, five rebounds, and
one blocked shot, Howey scored six points and grabbed four rebounds,
Manwaring chipped in with four points and four rebounds, and junior
Julia Bellis also grabbed four boards.
Waverly, now 5-1, hosts Horseheads Thursday, and travels to Elmira Saturday.
“It’s
a good stretch ahead of us,” said Kelly. “I think the girls are
focused, and ready. We’re just going to take it one game at a time, and
embrace the situation.”
About the Author |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
||
