All good things must come to an end and thus does the best start to a season by the Weston High School girl’s basketball team. Perennial Class B stalwart Stanley High School, located just west of Mansfield, won 48-45 on Monday to give Weston their first loss in ten games, but just barely. Weston had a shot to tie at the end but a last-second, three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced away. The victory dropped the Lady Wolves to 9-1 on the year while Stanley improved to 3-4 on the year.
What had been the “signature of success” in the early part of the season, a high-scoring average and good long-range bombing became a fickle partner for the first time all year. Weston came in averaging 63.9 points per game and shooting 25 % as a team from behind the three-point line. Against Stanley, the Lady Wolves scored 18 points below their average and made only 15% (4-27) from behind the arc.
In the beginning, it looked like another Weston win in the making. The Lady Wolves jumped out to a 16-8 lead after one period but suddenly fortunes turned and hard. At the half, Weston found themselves ahead by just one at 21-20 after producing a season-worst five points in the second quarter. The misfires continued in the second half, leading to Weston being outscored for three quarters for the first time all season.
“It is simple,” Weston head coach Stacy Tucker curtly said in explaining the loss to the team that had won just two of their previous six games. “Stanley outplayed us and we didn’t play well.”
Briley Peterson is one who did play well, leading Weston with 17 points and 14 boards. Lexie Millien scored six and Emma Kate McBride nine as both also set new season marks in rebounds with 12 and 8 respectively. Lainee Trosclair also made 8 points despite not making a three-pointer for the first time all season. Ashlee Aldy scored three and Jessica Newton two to round out the scoring for Weston.
Weston (9-1) 16 5 12 12 – 45
Stanley (3-4) 8 12 13 15 – 48
WHS Scoring: Peterson 17, McBride 9, Trosclair 8, Millien 6, Aldy 3, Newton 2
Weston 75 Doyline 46 (Girls) How do you break a shooting slump? Keep shooting! Weston took the theory to heart putting up an incredible 94 shots that led to the second-best scoring total of the season and four players reaching double figures in points for the first time all year. Adding to the enjoyable evening were three players smashing previous career game highs, including a pair who set two new marks each.
Turning in the game of their lives was Nadia Siadek with 12 points and 13 boards, Jessica Newton with 10 points and 7 blocks, and Anslee Aldy with 15 points, all new career bests. Emma Kate McBride chipped in with 14 points, Lainee Trosclair added 8, Lexie Millien and Briley Peterson with 6 each, and both Jakayla Fourd and Raelynn Shell scored two.
Weston (10-1) 20 17 28 10 – 75
Doyline (1-3) 9 17 7 13 – 46
WHS Scoring: Aldy 15, McBride 14, Siadek 12, Newton 10, Trosclair 8, Millien 6, Peterson 6, Fourd 2, Shell 2
Stanley 64 Weston 36 (boys) Scoring just 11 points in the second and third quarters combined proved to be the undoing as Weston dropped their fifth in six games. Six points each by Jude Otwell and Bryce Zehr, who made his on a pair of three-pointers, led to Weston scoring 15 in the first frame but Weston managed just seven baskets the remaining of the way. Zehr scored 11 and Otwell 8 to pace the Wolves but no one else managed more than four. The victory was a third straight for Stanley after dropping their first five of the year.
Weston (1-5) 15 7 4 10 – 36
Stanley (3-5) 21 18 20 5 – 64
WHS Scoring: Zehr 11, Otwell 8, Fourd 4, Henderson 4, Gonzalez 3, Mathews 2, Theriot 2, Watlington 2
Doyline 92 Weston 77 (boys) The Wolves scored their most points in a game this year. The problem was that so did fellow district 1B member, Doyline. The contest featured two incredible individual efforts as Weston’s, Mitchel Mathews, scored a career-high 32 points and Doyline’s, Jamara Clark pumped in 35. The game started with Doyline holding a slim 19-18 lead after the first period before exploding for 32 points in the second quarter to take a 51-34 lead at the half. The lead ballooned to 33 points with a minute left in the third period but to the Wolves credit, the Wolves cut the deficit to 11 with 2:30 left in the contest. Bryce Zehr finished with 18 on the night and Tait Henderson chipped in with 15. Braden Theriot scored eight and Jude Otwell four for the Wolves who fell to 1-6 with the loss. Doyline, ranked 9th in Division V, improved to 4-1 with their fourth straight victory after a season-opening loss.
Weston (1-6) 18 16 17 26 – 77
Doyline (4-1) 19 32 23 18 – 92
WHS Scoring: Mathews 32, Zehr 18, Henderson 15, Theriot 8, Otwell 4
DHS Scoring: J. Clark 35, Mingo 18, Swain 14, K. Clark 9, McClendon 8, Patterson 7, Spears 1
Weston 59 Dodson 45 (boys) Tait Henderson scored a game-high 21 points and doubled up the first-quarter point total of Dodson by himself as the Wolves raced to a 23-5 first-quarter lead and never looked back. The victory improved Weston’s record to 2-6 while Dodson fell to 1-5 on the year. While Henderson was the only Weston player to reach double figures in points, seven others chipped in with a balanced effort led by Braden Theriot with eight and both Mitchell Mathews and Bryce Zehr with seven each. Juan Gonzalez was next with a season-high six points followed by Jude Otwell and Ja’Michael Fourd with four apiece. Daniel Watlington rounded out the scoring with two.
Weston (2-6) 23 14 15 7 – 59
Dodson (1-5) 5 12 17 11- 45
WHS Scoring: Henderson 21, Theriot 8, Mathews 7, Zehr 7, Gonzalez 6, Otwell 4, Fourd 4, Watlington 2
DHS Scoring: Box 20, Duff 10, Glaze 8, Statham 7
