The lesson here is that if you are going to lead for only 2 minutes and 32 seconds of a basketball game it is best to do so as time is running out in the final quarter. That is exactly the amount of time Weston held a lead in the 32 minutes that was played on Thursday at Claiborne Christian that saw the Lady Wolves rally to take a thrilling 53-52 come-from-behind victory thanks to a furious full court press and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch. 

The contest started with Weston quickly falling behind 12-2. Early in the second quarter, the lead had stretched to 23-12 but that was when Weston started to find the range and gain ground to enter the break only down 25-18, buoyed by back-to-back three-pointers by Lainee Trosclair and, Emma Kate McBride. The pair along with Anslee Aldy connected again from long range and Briley Peterson scored four points in the third to help Weston creep closer but Claiborne Christian still led by 38-33 heading into the fourth period leading WHS head coach Stacy Tucker to make a change on defense. 

“When we played them earlier in the year, we had good luck pressing them,” said Tucker. “They were shooting the ball really well and I thought we needed to do something to try and get them out of their rhythm.”

The move worked as the Lady Wolves created turnover after turnover to claw their way back leading as Jessica Newton put back that gave Weston their first lead of the game at 44-42 with 4:12 remaining. Another basket by Peterson gave WHS their biggest lead of the night at 46-42 but Claiborne Christian then hit a pair of threes to retake the lead at 48-47. With Weston down 52-50 Tucker took another time out to give his girls a rest for one last push.

Again the strategy paid off as Weston forced turnovers on the next two possessions that resulted in McBride making a free throw to narrow the lead to 52-51 with 33 seconds to play and then calmly sinking two more from the foul line with 15.5 seconds left to put Weston back on top 53-52. With fans from both sides on their feet, Claiborne Christian managed to free up a player down low with 3.2 seconds to go but the short shot rimmed out and Peterson snared the rebound giving Weston their 20th victory against only five losses and dropping home-standing Claiborne Christian to 17-7 on the year. 

Tucker was complimentary of his girl’s effort after the game.

“I am really proud of the way the girls responded to being down, especially late in the game,” said Tucker. “They never quit and kept working. Everyone contributed when we needed it whether it was with points, rebounds, or playing good defense.”

Emma Kate McBride led the offense with 22 points, which included four of six clutch free throws down the stretch and 11 fourth-quarter points. Peterson also came up big with 11 points, 11 boards, 3 steals, and 3 blocks followed by six points from Lainee Trosclair who also deserves mention for her gritty defensive play in the second half that helped fuel the rally. Anslee Aldy also helped with 5 points and 5 boards and Jessica Newton added four points, five rebounds, and three blocks. Lexie Millien grabbed three boards and made a clutch late three-pointer while Nadia Siadek rounded out the scoring with a pair of free throws. 

TEAM	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
WHS (20-5)	9	9	15	20	53
CCHS	15	10	13	14	52

Weston boys get bombed away

Claiborne Christian 72 Weston 54 (Friday) Braden Theriot and Mitchel Mathews scored 13 and Bryce Zehr added 10 but Weston ran into a buzz saw at Claiborne Christian, who shot more threes than two-point baskets and seemingly couldn’t miss from long-range. The Wolves shot the ball well also early on and led 18-16 after the first period with Theriot and Zehr connecting from behind the arc, Mathews scoring six, and both Ja’Michael Fourd and Tait Henderson getting on the books.  

Then the rim became unkind for the visiting Wolves as they managed only 10 in the second frame. Conversely, it seemed that everything the Crusaders threw up went in resulting in the home standers exploding for 27 points to take a commanding 43-28 lead into the break. 

Henderson would finish with 8 and both Fourd and Nathan Wages scored four with Tyler Pardue closing the scoring with a fourth-quarter basket. The third straight loss and fifth in the last six games dropped Weston’d record to 8-15 while Claiborne Christian, under coach Josh Brown, who is in his first year after coming over from Simsboro, improved to  15-7.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
WHS	18	10	13	13	54
CCHS	16	27	17	12	72

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