Quitman celebrates Senior night with sweep of Weston

Quitman High celebrated Senior Night with victories by both the boys and girls over Jackson Parish and district 2B rival, Weston on Friday. Being honored in front of the Quitman faithful were boys basketball players John Pabaya, LD Manning, Shane Rowe, Bailey Keys and Ty Simonelli along with Cheerleaders Raven Martin and Layla Shumake.

Quitman 48 Weston 30 (Girls) With their sixth straight victory, the 10th ranked Lady Wolverines moved to 20-8 overall and to the top of district 2B with their second victory against no losses. Weston dropped to 15-10 and now after dropping their first two district contests face an uphill climb to get back into the title chase.

The difference was the scrappy Quitman defense that held the high-octane, Weston offense to single digits in the first three quarters and nearly 26 points below their season average. The Lady Wolves managed only ten field goals during the game leading to their second lowest point total of the year. Emma Kate McBride made four of the baskets, including a pair of three pointers to lead Weston with ten points. Faith Beamesderfer scored six followed by five each from Briley Peterson and Jessica Newton.

Quitman bolted to a 14-8 first quarter lead and never looked back on the strength of four points by Cali Deal, three pointers by Brayli Stewart and Bethany Leach and two points each from Emma Carter and Ansley Folks. Outside marksmanship by Stewart and Leach led to three treys each and 15 and 11 points respectively in the contest. Post player Deal also came up big with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Emma Carter pitched in with six.

Quitman (20-8, 2-0)	14	8	13	13	48
Weston (15-10, 0-2)	6	6	8	10	30

(QHS Scoring) Stewart 15, Deal 12, B. Leach 11, Carter 6, Folks 2, A. Leach 2 (WHS Scoring) McBride 10, Beamesderfer 6, Peterson 5, Newton 5, Trosclair 2, Barmore 2

Quitman 55 Weston 50 (boys) Clutch free throw shooting by Quitman offset strong, long-range shooting by Weston in a frantic final quarter that saw both teams combine for 40 points. In the end the 21-19 advantage by Quitman helped pave the way to the tight victory that lifted Quitman to 15-13 overall and 1-1 in district 1-2A play. Weston fell to 11-15 and 0-2.

On the night where five senior players were honored it was junior, Blake Carter, that stole the show with a season best and game high 23 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. John Pabaya was a perfect 6/6 from the line including four clutch freebies in the pivotal final frame to finish with ten points as did L.D. Manning who also grabbed 7 boards. Ty Simonelli added 7, Logan Ponder 3 and Bailey Keys 2 to round out the Wolverines scoring.

A 4/4 performance from the free throw line by Davis Tolar, who finished the game with 10n points, five of Eli McBride’s 11 points and a three pointer from Bryce Zehr kept the Wolves close at 20-18 after two periods in the defensive minded first half. Ryan Feirn stepped up in the second half to score 9 of his 11 points. Kade Shirley and Mitchel Mathews also played big over the final two quarters with Shirley making all six of his points on a pair of three pointers and Mitchel Mathews scoring all his five points in the contest.

Quitman (15-13, 1-1)
Weston (11-15. 0-2)

(QHS scoring) Carter 23, Manning 10, Pabaya 10, Simonelli 7, Ponder 3, Keys 2 (WHS Scoring) McBride 11, Feirn 11, Tolar 10, Shirley 6, Mathews 5, Zehr 5, Otwell 2