WAVERLY'S PRESSURE TOO MUCH FOR TIOGA IN 79-41 WIN
By: Tim Birney | WaverlyAthletics.com | February 20, 2021 | Photo courtesy Tim Birney
TIOGA CENTER — Last season, Tioga knocked off a heavily-favored Waverly team here early in the season.
Saturday
afternoon, senior Sidney Tomasso and the Westbrook sisters — sophomore
Kennedy and 8th-grader Addison — made sure it wouldn’t happen again,
combining for 58 points to lead the Lady Wolverines to a 79-41win in IAC
girls basketball action.
Did Bob Kelly and his Lady Wolverines discuss last year’s game?
“Of
course we did,” said Kelly. “The last thing I said getting on the bus
today was, ‘remember, they beat us last year.’ It was also the last
thing I said coming out of the locker room today.
“We definitely talked about it,” he added.
“I
think there was probably a little bit of a revenge beating here today,”
said Tioga coach Joe Robinson. “I’m sure (Coach Kelly) mentioned last
year’s game a lot in his practices.”
Kennedy Westbrook opened the
scoring with a 3-pointer 50 seconds into the game, and freshman Peyton
Shaw drained a baseline jumper with 5:50 remaining in the first quarter
to give Waverly a 5-0 lead.
With 5:08 remaining, Tioga senior Olivia Ayres canned a 3-pointer from the top-of-the-key to make to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Over
the next three minutes, Waverly would reel off a 16-0 run to take a
21-3 lead. Four of Waverly’s buckets came as the result of Tioga
turnovers. In all, the Lady Tigers would commit 38 turnovers in the
contest.
“We were getting into our trap areas,” said Kelly. “Our
second-line defenders were seeing what was going on, and rotating better
then we have been. We weren’t quite doing it all the time, but they are
starting to get it.
“When we did what we are suppose to do, good things happened.
“We
just need to clean that up a little bit more, keep working on it, and
keep doing what we’re doing,” added Kelly. “I’m pretty happy with it.”
Robinson was impressed with the Lady Wolverines.
“They are very good,” he said. “They are very quick.
“We
haven’t seen anything like their quickness all year, and we kind of
freaked out,” added Robinson. “Thus, the 38 turnovers, which will lead
to a lot of points against Waverly.”
Tomasso ignited the run with a blocked shot, and outlet pass to Kennedy Westbrook, who finished in transition to make it 7-3.
After a short jumper by Tomasso, Kennedy Westbrook buried a 3-pointer to make it 12-3 with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter.
Back-to-back steals and lay-ups by Tomasso and Kennedy Westbrook made it 16-3 just 30 seconds later.
After
Tomasso buried a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:11 left in the
opening stanza, freshman Paige Robinson came up with a steal on the
press, and was fouled going to the bucket. She made both freebies to
make it 21-3 with 2 minutes remaining.
Tioga senior Eve Wood
stopped the bleeding momentarily with a 3-pointer from the
top-of-the-key with 57 seconds remaining in the first quarter, but
Addison Westbrook answered with a 3-ball with 10 ticks left on the clock
to give the Lady Wolverines a 24-6 lead after the opening eight
minutes.
Despite the Lady Wolverines missing four of its first 5
3-point field goal attempts, they finished the game with 12, including
four apiece by Tomasso and Addison Westbrook, and three by Kennedy
Westbrook.
“You can’t do anything about a shot you miss; it’s about your next shot,” said Kelly. “Shooters have to continue shooting.
“I think we have a good group of shooters,” he added.
Ayres
knocked down another 3-pointer and scored five points in the second
quarter, and Tioga held Waverly to just nine points, but was only able
to trim one point off the deficit and trailed 33-16 at the half.
Tomasso
knocked down a 3-pointer in the opening moments of the second half to
spark an 14-0 run that upped Waverly’s advantage to 47-16 with 5:13 left
in the third quarter. Tomasso and Westbrook each scored five points in
the run, and Shaw added four.
After a 3-pointer by Ayres, junior
Lourden Benjamin and Tomasso scored back-to-back buckets to give Waverly
a 51-19 lead with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter.
A pair of
free throws by sophomore Abby Foley, who was fouled going to the bucket
after a steal, sparked an 11-0 Tioga run that included five points by
Ayres, and buckets by sophomore Reese Howey and Mariah Nichols.
After
Addison Westbrook and Wood traded buckets, Tomasso rebounded her own
miss and scored at the third-quarter buzzer to give Waverly a 55-32 lead
heading into the final eight minutes.
The Lady Wolverines
knocked down six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including three by
Addison Westbrook, two by Tomasso, and one by Robinson, and finished off
the game with a 24-9 run.
Kelly was pleased with the performances of his younger players.
“I
think Peyton (Shaw) did a really good job today, probably her best
game,” he said. “She did a really good job on the boards, and with her
offensive movement. Things we’ve tried to correct, she’s getting it … I
thought she did played a real nice game.
“Addison (Westbrook)
shot the ball real well, which we needed,” noted Kelly. “She’s kind of
playing multiple positions, and getting out on the wing, where she
really likes to be.
“The other young girls are getting some time,
and they need time to get more comfortable and more confidence in what
they do,” he added.
Robinson also found some positives after the loss.
“I
thought we rebounded the ball pretty good, especially early on,” he
said. “(Waverly) didn’t shoot it great in the beginning, and we got a
lot of rebounds, then we’d turn it over to them, and they’d lay it in
the basket.
“And, I think our effort was very good,” added
Robinson. “We have some girls who haven’t play this kind of basketball
before. I thought the Foley girls (Abby and Gabby) did a great job
today.”
Tomasso led Waverly with 25 points, while Kennedy
Westbrook scored 17 points, Addison Westbrook tallied a career-high 16
points, Shaw and senior Gabby Picco added six points apiece, and
Robinson chipped in with five points.
Ayres led Tioga with 16
points and three steals, while Wood had 11 points, five rebounds and
three steals, and Abby Foley added five points and one blocked shot.
Senior
Ari Manwaring hauled down 11 rebounds, while Howey had seven boards and
one blocked shot, junior Julia Bellis grabbed seven rebounds, and Gabby
Foley dished out two assists
Waverly, now 4-1, hosts Tioga (1-3) Tuesday night.
About the Author |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
||
