Lady Pioneers top Bishop Canevin, 58-54
If there was ever any doubt that West Greene was for real, the Lady Pioneers showed that they are on Friday night at home in a 58-54 non-section victory over Bishop Canevin.
The Lady Crusaders (7-0, 10-5) came in ranked as one of the top teams in Class AA, but the Class A Lady Pioneers (7-0, 15-0) were able to come away with the victory.
“We had this game penciled in and we always want to play a tough non-section schedule,” West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. “That way, we get battled tested and playoff ready whether we win or lose. We won our 40th section game in a row on Thursday, but we played a terrible first half. I think that woke us up a little bit.”
West Greene led after every quarter, but Bishop Canevin’s 19-14 advantage in the third cut the Lady Pioneers’ lead to 42-41 entering the fourth.
The home team had a 16-13 edge in the fourth, and got a clutch 3-pointer from Katie Lampe and a basket from Elizabeth Brudnock, who also made two free throws down the stretch. Teammate Jersey Wise, who had a game-high 22 points and three 3-pointers, was 3 of 4 at the foul line down the stretch.
West Greene had an 18-15 lead after the first quarter, and held a 28-22 advantage at halftime after outscoring the Lady Crusaders, 10-7, in the second. Watson also believes another key for the Lady Pioneers was holding Bishop Canevin’s top scorer, Diajha Allen, to five points.
“We thought Allen made everything go,” Watson said. “She is really tough to stay in front of, but she had three fouls in the first quarter. We were trying to get her in foul trouble. They have a couple of girls that can really shot. We would have liked to have had a bigger lead at the half, but holding Allen down was huge for us.”
Brudnock and Brooke Barner had nine apiece, and teammate Anna Durbin had eight.
“Every game, we like for Anna, Elizabeth and Jersey to combine for 40 points, and tonight they had 39,” Watson said. “They also made clutch free throws at the end of the game, but we always think they are going to make them.”
Alyssa Pollice had 18 and Savanah Abbott 17 to lead the Lady Crusaders in scoring.