By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Two teams loaded with underclassmen matched up on February 5 at West Union High School as the Lady Dragons hosted a county rival, Peebles Lady Indians in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action. Both teams are grappling for wins as the regular season winds down, both loaded with young talent that continues to improve and provided bright hope for the future.
Last Thursday night’s contest followed a familiar script for the Lady Dragons, a whole lot of shots, lengthy scoring droughts and a whole lot of rebounds and a frenetic pace of play that often frustrates opponents. It was also a night of long distance shooting as the two teams combined to drain nine three-point goals. The scoreboard was controlled for nearly the entire night by the Lady Dragons, with Peebles leading only twice in the game and behind eight different girls in the scoring column, West Union claimed a nice conference win, prevailing by a final score of 48-42.
“We needed this win tonight,” west Union head coach Jacob Stout told C103 after the game. “We seem to be coming together more andm ore as a a team and our game plan tonight was to keep Myers and Smalley from getting open looks. Myers still got 20 points swhich shows you what a great player she is. We have kids who don’t care how much they score and they’ll run though a brick wall for me.”
The first Peebles lead of the game came at 2-0 after a baseline jumper from super soph Kendall Myers, but that lead disappeared, though it took the Lady Dragons nearly three minutes to record their first score, a stickback from Jocelyn Hall. That Hall basket began a 10-0 West Union run that concluded back to back three-balls from Annabelle McIntosh and a 10-2 lead for the home team at the 3:12 mark of the opening frame. Peebles pulled closer with baskets by Katie and Kendall Myers but the Lady Dragons answered with a Maddie Stout three-pointer. Again, the Lady Indians sank two consecutive buckets, both by Kendall Myers and two free throws from Kaydence Cook left West Union up 15-10 after one.
With the first two baskets of the second quarter, the Lady Dragons opened up a nine-point advantage and then doubled up their visitors when Madison White banked home a three-point shot. A triple by Peebles’ Alyssa Smalley sliced the deficit to 22-14and a putback bucket Amryn Carroll drew the Lady Indians to within 24-18 at the halftime break,
The halftime respite did the Peebles squad some good as they opened the third quarter with an 8-1 run, a basket at the 4:34 mark giving them their second and final lead of the game at 26-25. West Union grabbed the lead back for good with a 7-0 run, getting another McIntosh three-pointer to go up by six. The two sides swapped baskets before a Violet Randolph dial-up from long distance gave the home team a 39-20 advantage after three quarters of play.
Holding on to their lead was the fourth quarter task for the Lady Dragons and they handled it to perfection, but not without some hairy moments. Midway through the fourth, the Lady Indians pulled within five on a Kendall Myers score and then both teams hit an offensive drought, non one scoring until a Cook free throw with 1:15 to play. Two free throws from Kendall Myers brought Peebles to within 43-39 with 53 seconds left, but the Lady Dragons sewed it up with a quick 5-0 run. The Lady Indians got a three-pointer from Paysen Shiveley as time ran out but it was West Union hanging on for the six-point win.
As mentioned, the winners placed eight different players in the scoring column, led by 16 points from junior guard Annabelle McIntosh. Kaydence Cook added 7 with Violet Randolph and Jocelyn Hall getting 6 apiece.
The Lady Indians were led by the game’s high scorer, sophomore Kendall Myers with 20 points. The Peebles girls did themselves in at the charity stripe, hitting just 10 of 24 free throws in the loss,.
Both teams were back in action on Saturday, February with the Lady Dragons improving their season record to 8-10, while the Lady Indians dropped to 6-12 with a 57-50 loss to Southeastern.
Both teams will also conclude regular season competition this week. On Monday, West Union will travel to Fairfield and then on Saturday a trip to Whiteoak ends conference play. Peebles will be at Paint Valley on Wednesday and finish up at Fairfield on Thursday.
Box Score
Peebles
10 8 12 12 —42
West Union
15 9 15 9 —48
Peebles (42): Kendall Myers 20, Katie Myers 4, Shiveley 7, Richards 2, Smalley 5, Carroll 4
W. Union (48): McIntosh 16, Stout 4, Hall 6, Cook 7, White 5, Randolph 6, Stapleton 2, Weakley 2
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