By ANDREW FEEBACK
GASTON — On a night when points were hard to come by for both teams, the Southern Wells Lady Raiders dug deep in the final minutes and came away with a 33-27 win over the host Wes-Del Lady Warriors.
The Raiders (7-10) made just 12 shots from the field in 50 attempts and were just 2 of 20 beyond the arc.
“Our shots were not falling at all tonight,” coach Jessica Killingbeck said. “They just stayed poised and were focused, and it goes back to competing. We continue to work on competing in practice, and I think that allows us to gut out wins like this.”
Southern Wells took a 13-6 lead midway through the second quarter, but then the Raiders went cold.
Wes-Del (3-15) eased back within two points at the break.
A mid-range jumper in the paint from Ashlie Needler put the Raiders up four, but then another dry spell took hold, and the Warriors rattled off eight straight points to go in front, 19-15.
Needler converted a three-point play seconds before the third quarter ended. Avah Miner’s three-pointer from the top of the key tied the game at 21 early in the fourth.
Another three-point play from Needler put the Raiders up by three.
Back-to-back layups from Wes-Del’s Rayven Luzadder gave the Warriors a 25-24 lead with 4:21 to play.
The teams traded free throws, and Wes-Del led 27-26 with 3:34 remaining.
Hailey Duncan hit a shot just inside the arc, and following a Warrior turnover, a backdoor cut and layup from Zoe Needler put the Raiders up 30-27.
Duncan hit from the same spot on the Raiders’ next possession, and the lead was five with 2:07 to go.
The defense continued to come up big for Southern Wells late, as they forced eight turnovers by the Warriors in the fourth quarter. Wes-Del attempted only two shots during the Raiders’ game-ending 7-0 run.
Ashlie Needler went to the line with just over a minute left. She missed both shots but rebounded her own miss, and the Raiders burned 20 seconds off the clock before taking a timeout. They ran off 10 more seconds and used another timeout, then finally forced the Warriors to foul.
Zoe Needler’s free throw finished the scoring.
Ashlie Needler and Duncan both scored 10 points for the Raiders, while Luzadder had 14 to lead the Warriors.
Killingbeck was pleased with the mental toughness her team showed late in the game and how her team didn’t get down on itself after shooting so poorly early on.
“I don’t think it affected us as much as it normally would,” she said. “We did a good job handling it, and we continued to shoot. Miner’s shot wasn’t falling; she typically would stop shooting, and she continued to shoot. Same thing with Faith; her shot wasn’t falling, and she continued to shoot.
“Duncan stepped up big for us tonight,” she continued. “She missed her first shot at Woodlan by a long shot and then didn’t shoot the ball except for once after that. We talked at practice the last couple days that if you’re not going to shoot the ball, you can’t be on the floor. A lot of kids stepped up and did things differently than what we normally have from kids. Duncan’s not normally our leading scorer; she normally does the little things that don’t get recognized in the scorebook. I’m proud of her for stepping up tonight.”
No JV game was played.
Southern Wells will travel to Adams Central for a rescheduled game Thursday night.
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SOUTHERN WELLS 33,
WES-DEL 27
At Wes-Del High School
SOUTHERN WELLS (7-10): Hailey Duncan 5-12 0-0 10, Avah Miner 1-14 0-0 3, Zoe Needler 1-4 3-4 5, Collena Reeves 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzie Paxson 0-1 0-0 0, Faith Blair 2-12 0-1 5, Ashlie Needler 3-7 4-6 10, Breanna Leidig 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12-50 7-11 33.
WES-DEL (3-15): Rayven Luzadder 6-9 2-6 14, Kenzie Anderson 1-8 2-2 4, Taylor Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Kayla Harrold 0-2 0-0 0, Jennah Love 0-1 0-0 0, Aidan Smith 1-6 1-2 3, Hayden Browning 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Cox 2-7 0-1 6, Marley Bertram 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10-33 5-11 27.
So. Wells 4 9 5 15 — 33
Wes-Del 4 7 8 8 — 27
Three-point Goals: Southern Wells 2-20 (Miner 1-7, Blair 1-10, Zoe Needler 0-2, Duncan 0-1), Wes-Del 2-8 (Cox 2-6, Smith 0-2). Rebounds: Southern Wells 26 (Ashlie Needler 9, Miner 7, Zoe Needler 4, Blair 3, Duncan 2, Leidig 1), Wes-Del 26 (Luzadder 15, Smith 4, Love 3, Anderson 2, Cox 1, Harrold 1). Turnovers: Southern Wells 13, Wes-Del 22. Fouls: Southern Wells 14, Wes-Del 14. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
