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Lady Patriots 73, Lady Eagles 66

Starting off a new year on a positive note is always a good thing and that’s exactly what the Wallace Community College Lady Patriots did on Monday when they beat Coastal Alabama 73-66.

In the first half, the defense of WCCS gave the Lady Eagles problems. Costal Alabama had a hard time getting into sets and turned the ball over often. Despite the sloppy play the Lady Patriots could not make any kind of push to separate themselves from the Lady Eagles. That is until late in the second quarter. WCCS went on a 12-0 run late in the second quarter to push their lead to double digits. Shamiyah Scott played a big factor in the run at the end of the second quarter scoring six of the 12 points. She would finish the game with eight points and only one of those points came in the second half. Scott said that despite being tired the communication the team has night in and night out allowed them to get out of this game with a win.

“Communication is very important,” Scott said. “It allows us to penetrate and execute our plays and what coach wants us to accomplish.

At the half, the Lady Patriots had a little more breathing room leading 42-32.

“We knew were out of condition, WCCS Head Coach Herman Turner said. “We also didn’t know If the other team was in shape either. So our strategy was who ever got tired was going to be the ones who was going to lose the ball game.”

The second half started off at a slower pace than the first half. The pace stayed slow throughout the second half and it looked like despite both teams feeling fatigued, WCCS was in just a little better shape.

The three-point line became a friend to the Lady Patriots in the second half especially for Ashley Washington who had nine points from the three-point line to give her 19 points on the night.

Another run in the fourth quarter by the Lady Patriots sealed the deal as Coastal Alabama just seemed to run out of gas at the end.

This was the first game for the Lady Patriots in four weeks and the players felt like they hadn’t played in four weeks after the game.

“It’s hard,” Jones said. “You just got to keep going, keep yourself up. You got to get into the rhythm. The legs will be there you just got to make sure your shots get down.”

Patriots 53, Eagles 52

With 0 seconds on the clock and down by one Isaiah Davis showed no fear as he sank his first two free throws of the night for a walk off win against Coastal Alabama 53-52.

WCCS had big time play after big time play in the first half. With every block and every bucket, you could see the confidence grow in a team that has struggled this season so far. Costal Alabama could not get on the same page offensively which caused unforced turnovers which WCCS capitalized on. The Patriots at one point held a nine-point lead in the first half which was their largest lead of the first twenty minutes. Offensively it was a low scoring first half and that played right into the hands of the Patriots who led at the end of the first half 31-27.

“We just wanted to be disruptive,” WCCS Head Coach Duane Evans said. “We watched a lot of film on those guys and they are really solid in the man to man. They have a lot of guys who can go and make plays and they are really disciplined in their offense. So after watching film on them we just felt like the zone would be disruptive to them and cause them to do some things and take some shots they don’t work on every day. I think it was pretty much effective.”

In the second half, the Eagles came out firing and took the lead early in the half. Again, WCCS had a answer for the Eagles run. Several players played a factor in keeping the Eagles from taking all the momentum and one of those players was Brycd Robbins. Robins had clutch free throws in the second half that kept the game in reach for the Patriots.

“I tried to go out there and play effectively,” Robbins said. “I tried to play good team basketball and make shots, make plays and not turn the ball over.”

The Patriots big moment came with no time on the clock. JaQues Holt had been fouled hard on an attempted shot as the buzzer sounded. The officials said the foul occurred before the buzzer and the Patriots were allowed to go to the line down 52-51. Holt could not shoot the free throws due to injury. The Eagles bench selected Davis to take the free throws and he sank both with ease.

“I just knew it was fixing to be over,” Davis said. “I practice on those every day. I am ready for the opportunity every single day. I shine for the moment.”