Valley Point’s charge too little, too late

Published 11:28 pm Thursday, December 13, 2007

With the season nearing its midpoint, Valley Point Middle School’s eighth grade girls basketball team is still looking for its first victory.

The Lady Green Waves came awfully close in their latest attempt.

Despite a double-digit lead late in the fourth quarter at home, New Hope had to hold off a diligent rally by the Lady Green Waves to secure a 28-27 victory on Thursday.

Ahead by 13 points with 2:18 to play, New Hope (2-3) went scoreless the rest of the way as Valley Point (0-5) — ignited by Alise Hagan’s 3-pointer that started its final run — put together its hottest stretch of offense after hitting just seven field goals and failing to convert from the free throw line up to that point.

New Hope’s security was in the lead it had built, which was just enough to make the difference.

“I put a few subs in to let them get a shot at playing and wanted them to get some experience and everything,” said New Hope coach Melydia Little, “but I think I left them in a little bit too long. We didn’t have any true ball-handlers out there and so they kept taking the ball from us.”

Valley Point started the final possession with 12 seconds to play. New Hope’s Kalyn Pittman missed the front end of a one-and-one, neither side reacted and the ball went out to Valley Point.

With the ball pushed out of bounds by New Hope (2-3) after Valley Point moved up the floor, the Lady Green Waves put it back in play and set up an outside shot that came up empty just before the game clock expired.

“We’ve got to learn to play four quarters instead of just playing at the end,” said Valley Point coach Ron Wheeler. “It was an exciting game for both teams. We had a chance to win at the end, we just didn’t make it. The girls played hard and I was extremely proud of their effort. We’re getting better.”

Neither team had much offense to start with in a first quarter that ended with New Hope ahead 4-2, and just as the Lady Kodiaks picked up the pace with a 6-0 run in the second quarter, Valley Point’s Rose Willis hit a long jumper that made it 13-8 New Hope at halftime.

New Hope seemed to be pulling away in the third, with a second 6-0 run, only to see Hagan hit her first 3-pointer of the game. The Lady Kodiaks pushed their lead to 13 points again before Hagan hit her second.

From there, it got more interesting than New Hope would have liked. Valley Point closed the gap to three when Mariah Harris — who led all scorers with 11 points — stole New Hope’s inbound pass under the basket and hit an easy layup with 45 seconds left.

The Lady Green Waves then trimmed it to one with 26 seconds remaining as Hagan converted both ends of a one-and-one.

“We started making some shots,” Wheeler said. “That’s the whole key. You make a few shots, you get a little momentum going, then you can play defense. When you score a few, your feet get a little bit quicker on defense.”

Pittman had 10 points to lead New Hope, which spread its scoring among seven players. Lindsey Baggett added six and Carrie Smith five.

Valley Point’s Willis finished with six.

The Lady Kodiaks will try to take a bigger step forward with their next outing. Thursday’s game, although a win, was a hiccup in what had been a steady move upward.

“We had played pretty well the last two games,” Little said. “Our team was actually coming together and playing as a team. I don’t know what happened tonight.”

— Westside 40, North Whitfield 4: Marissa Fraire had 11 points and the Lady Rockets won their seventh straight to open the season. Taylor Baker scored nine points, Amy Shampo six and Carley Fetzer five for Westside.

It was the first loss for North Whitfield in five games this season.

8th grade boys

— Valley Point 37, New Hope 35: The Green Waves’ Matt Cobb made a shot with eight seconds left to win the game. Cobb and Levi Sams each had 10 points for Valley Point (3-2).

Jordan Woodard and Nick Sullivan each scored 11 points for the Kodiaks.

— North Whitfield 49, Westside 44: The Pioneers (5-0) got 21 points from Nick Marcadis, 10 from Alex Heard and eight from Heath Satterfield as they dealt the Rockets (6-1) their first loss this season.

Tyler Baker had 15 and Daniel Kubin added 11 for Westside.

7th grade girls

— North Whitfield 43, Westside 20: Maddie Howell tossed in 21 points, Mykeah Johnson had eight and Alice Ann Barber finished with six for the Lady Pioneers (5-0).

Autumn Blackwell and Allie Blackwood each scored six for the Lady Rockets (3-3).

— New Hope 35, Valley Point 29: McKenzie Mastin finished with 13 points while Kaitlin Wade added 10 for the Lady Kodiaks (4-1).

Samantha Gravitt led the Lady Green Waves (2-2) with 10 and Tavi Parris and Megan Collins each had six.

7th grade boys

— New Hope 59, Valley Point 28: Kaleb King tossed in 14 points and Kyle Brock added 10 for the Kodiaks (6-0).

Blake Young led the Green Waves (0-5) with nine points and Demond Rucker had six.

— North Whitfield 43, Westside 20: Blake Heard had 15 points and Jonathan Willmon added 11 as the Pioneers improved to 3-2.

Wade Terrell’s eight-point effort paced Westside.

Varsity wrestling

— Murray County went 2-0 and Southeast came up empty in dual action with Rome at Southeast.

The Indians topped Rome, 53-12, and the Raiders, 78-6, to improve to 11-3 in duals this season. Southeast fell, 48-25, to Rome.

For Murray County, Dalton Lane (112), Tyler Hawkins (125), Andrew Baldwin (140), Bryce Gibson (145) and Zach Baggett (171/189) all picked up two pins, while Zach Shoemaker (103), Charles Napier (119), Blake Rainey (152) and Justin Shoemaker (189) all won twice. Single match winners were Cody Adams (130), David Thornbury (160), Keith Bennett (171), Ethan Watson (215), and Jake McConathy (285).

Against Rome, Southeast’s Tanner Phipps (140) and Adrian Lopez (145) recorded first-period pins, while Jonathan Wilbanks (125) won via major decision, Terrance Jackson (171) won by decision and Andy Pichardo (135) accepted a forfeit. Southeast’s only points against Murray came as Andy Pichardo (135) accepted another forfeit.

The Raiders are now 4-7 in dual meets.

Freshman basketball

— Dalton boys 38, Northwest Whitfield 33: Charlie Wilson scored 11 points for the Catamounts.

Jarrett Bruce led the Bruins (1-5) with 12 points while Caleb Smith had eight and Tyler Smith seven.