Lady Pirates find a way past Lady Tigers in key SOC showdown

WAVERLY — Sometimes you have to find a way to win.

For the Wheelersburg Lady Pirates, they had to find their way past the Waverly Lady Tigers for a 45-39 win in a tough and physical Southern Ohio Conference game on Monday night.

The game was definitely a rough and physical one, as the teams combined for 41 fouls and the teams combined for 51 fouls shots in the game.

As a result, Callie DeHart found herself in foul trouble just three minutes into the game and had to sit for much of the first half, throwing off the Lady Pirates offensive game plan.

Wheelersburg coach Dusty Spradlin gave credit to the players for not getting down on themselves and finding a way to come back and get a big win.

"I think we nearly forgot, we were down 18-9 and everybody was so out of it, mentality. And I know it's difficult, but 9 points isn't a lot. But, for us, that's a lot of growth. And maybe we weren't great at times, but we made the plays needed, especially at the end. I think we made 6-straight free throws to close out the game."

In need of a boost on offense, Ava Artrip came to the aid of the Lady Pirates finishing with 15 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.

"Ava did a great job of setting in and played really well. For her to step up and score and just adjust to the change speeds," said Spradlin.

Jaylinn Prather scored 6 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and had a pair of steals. Lainey Skeens came off the bench and chipped in 9 points, including two critical 3-pointers in the second quarter to help the Lady Pirates make a comeback.

For Waverly, they were led by senior guard Paige O'Bryant, who had a double-double with a game-high 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Sadie Royster and Calli Knight each finished with 6 points apiece.

The Lady Pirates took a 33-28 lead into the fourth quarter. But much like they had done all game, Waverly tried to turn the pressure up and wouldn't let Wheelersburg get the comfortable lead they wanted.

O'Bryant hit a 3-pointer to cut the Wheelersburg lead to just 4 points, then Prather answered with a mid range jumper to make it 37-31 with 6:13 showing on the clock.

Waverly would edge closer later in the frame when Knight scored to make it 39-37 with 5:00 left.

Both defenses would come up with stops over the next four minutes to keep the score the same heading into the final minute.

In need of a score to try and pull away, Artrip would draw a foul and sink a pair of free throws to make it a 4-point lead. Then the sophomore guard drained two more from the charity stripe to give the Lady Pirates a 43-37 lead with 20 seconds to go.

Facing desperation mode, Whitley Brown found the net on a driving layup to make it 43-39 with 11 seconds to go.

But Prather would be fouled on the inbound and sink her free throws to round out the final score.

The Lady Tigers were able to set the early tone, getting 5 points from O'Bryant, Royster scored 3 and Browns made a pair of free throws to grab a 10-9 lead after one quarter.

In the closing seconds of the first, Artrip pulled down a rebound, took the ball to the other end and made a pass over to Myles Bailey for a trey to make it a 1-point deficit for the Lady Pirates.

During the second quarter, Waverly pieced together a 9-0 run thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Gillott and Ramsey, a pair of free throws from O'Bryant and another foul shot from Brown.

Browns's free throw gave the Lady Tigers an 18-9 lead with 5:17 remaining in the first half.

Down but not out, the Lady Pirates got their offense clicking and finished out the first half with a 15-3 run to take the lead for good.

A key stretch of that run came when Mullens pulled down a rebound and kicked the ball out to Artrip for a triple. Then Skeens pulled the trigger from behind the arc with back-to-back scores, then finally Artrip buried another to give the Lady Pirates a 25-21 lead going into the locker room.

The win was a huge one for the Lady Pirates as they are now tied with Waverly for first place with Valley defeating Portsmouth West 53-47. Both the Lady Pirates and Lady Tigers will face each other again on Jan. 19 at Wheelersburg and — barring anymore upset — sole possession for first place could be on the line with just a handful of league games remaining.

"Give (Waverly) a lot of credit too. The three that Royster hit was deep-deep and I thought, here we go. And our girls finished the game and found a way," said Spradlin.

Wheelersburg 9 16 8 12 = 45

Waverly 10 11 7 11 = 39

WHEELERSBURG (9-4, 4-1): Callie DeHart 1 0 0-0 2, Jaidyn Tilley 0 0 0-0 0, Ava Artrip 1 3 6-8 15, Chloe Augustin 0 0 0-0 0, Clara Watkins 0 0 1-4 1, Myles Bailey 0 1 1-6 4, Lainey Skeens 0 2 3-6 9, Makenzie Mullens 0 0 0-0 0, Lexi Hickman 0 0 0-0 0, Peyton Ward 0 0 0-0 0, Jaylinn Prather 2 0 2-2 6, Peyton May 3 0 1-47. Totals: 7 6 13-26 45. Rebounds: O-24 D-21 = 43 (May 12, Bailey 8, Prather 7). Assists: 4 (Artrip 3, Skeens). Steals: 12 (Skeens 4, Artrip 3, Prather 2). Blocks: 2 (Artrip, Skeens). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.

WAVERLY (11-3, 4-1): Taryn Gillott 0 1 0-0 3, Sadie Royster 1 1 1-1 6, Calli Knight 2 0 2-10 6, Leah Walters 0 0 0-0 0, Hadley Ramsey 0 1 0-0 3, Abby Schrader 0 0 0-0 0, Paige O'Bryant 3 1 8-10 17, Whitley Brown 1 0 2-4 4. Totals: 7 4 13-25 39. Rebounds: O-7. D-23 = 30 (O'Bryant 10, Royster 5, Gillott 3, Brown 3). Assists: 1 (Royster). Steals: 8 (Gillott 2, Knight 2, Brown 2). Blocks: 5 (O'Bryant 4, Gillott). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Gillott (4th, 4:45), O'Bryant (4th, 0:09).