Wheelersburg uses late run to top Waverly, remain atop SOC standings

Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

WAVERLY — There aren’t too many high school basketball players who can start a game 0-for-10 shooting and then hit two complete daggers when crunch time comes.

But Wheelersburg’s Madison Whittaker doesn’t fit that mold.

The Pirates’ senior guard didn’t have a point to her name heading into Monday’s fourth quarter in Waverly. But when the final horn had sounded, she had become the reason why ‘Burg (10-1, 7-1 SOC II) was able to travel back home with an ultra-important conference victory.

“The thing that’s really nice about this group … they all have moments where they can score and they all have a good belief in themselves and in what they can do,” Wheelersburg coach Dusty Spradlin said. “I told Madi that not too many players can go 0-for-10 to start and then knock down two dagger 3’s that were just huge.”

Whittaker ended the night with eight points, all coming in the fourth quarter, and lifted her team to a 37-32 victory. 

Whittaker’s performance late in the game softened the blow of the Pirates’ offense sputtering at times. Wheelersburg shot just 12-of-38 from the field while struggling to figure out Waverly’s defensive schemes.

But a road win in the Southern Ohio Conference is never easy to come by. A victory is still a victory, no matter how it takes place.

“We knew how good [Waverly] was coming in. We saw the 1-2-2 [zone defense] and the 1-3-1 and I thought we had some decent looks at times. But you have to make shots at some point,” Spradlin said. “I was fairly pleased with our shot selection. There are some things we can work on. Our rotation was slow at times, we held the ball in the middle a bit too long, but we found a way to win. That’s what I told them. That’s the main thing.”

Tale of the tape

The Tigers (6-3, 5-3 SOC II) jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind Kelli Stewart and Bailey Vulgamore. Stewart scored the game’s first basket just 20 seconds into the action before Vulgamore hit a 3 at the 6:46 mark in the first quarter.

However, Waverly wouldn’t score again until less than a minute left in the frame.

PHOTOS: Images from Wheelersburg’s win over Waverly

Meanwhile, Wheelersburg’s Lexie Rucker hit back-to-back jumpers before Makenna Walker dialed long distance to put the Pirates ahead 7-5 with 1:25 remaining. Vulgamore then hit two free throws but Rucker canned a 3 with 32.3 seconds left to give ‘Burg a 10-7 advantage.

In the second, Walker and Rucker continued attacking the Tigers’ defensive front. The pair ended a 15-2 run with 3:45 left in the first half before Waverly’s Paige O’Bryant finally found the bottom of the net with a 3, making it a 15-10 tally.

By halftime, Wheelersburg had an 18-14 lead.

“It was a struggle all night long and a lot of that is that [Waverly] has a lot of length,” Spradlin said. “They do a nice job of spreading out their zone defenses. We just have to find ways to be a little better offensively. I thought if we could’ve got out in transition more, that it may have helped us. But we struggled to do that in the second half.”

Walker and Stewart traded baskets to begin the third before Vulgamore cut the deficit to 20-18 with a pair of freebies coming at the 3:05 mark. Rucker then scored with 1:55 left before Mia Vastine gave the Pirates a 25-18 advantage with a 3.

That’s, however, when the Tigers started to grab momentum.

Paige O’Bryant ended the third by scoring with just 3.4 seconds left. Then, with 6:02 left in the contest, Vulgamore nailed a triple before scoring a minute later to force a 27-27 deadlock and end a 9-2 run.

“We knew that [Vulgamore] and [Stewart] were the two that could score,” Spradlin said. “I was really pleased at halftime. I think she had five points. But we lost her there in the fourth quarter. We were pressing and some of that is on me. When you press, that’s the risk you run. But we were also trying to create a little bit of offense. So you live with the mistakes that may happen.”

Whittaker and Vulgamore traded 3’s to make it 30-30 before Vulgamore scored again with three minutes remaining to give the Tigers a 32-30 lead. Unfortunately for them, that’s the last two points they’d score throughout the rest of the contest.

Whittaker nailed her second 3 of the quarter with 1:42 left before sinking two free throws with 29 seconds on the game clock, making it a 35-32 lead. Then, with 7.3 seconds left, Annie Coriell sank a pair of free throws of her own, ending a 7-0 run and putting a victory on ice.

Stat book

Rucker led the Pirates with 12 points alongside four rebounds while Whittaker followed with eight points. Walker had seven points, four boards and two assists, and Coriell ended with four points — all of which came in the fourth quarter. Eaton also helped out with three points and a team-high six rebounds.

Waverly was led by Vulgamore, who turned in a game-high 15 points while Stewart had 10 points and seven rebounds. O’Bryant also helped out, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds.

What’s on tap

Both teams are back in action on Thursday and, peculiarly enough, will match up with each other for the second and last time this season, meeting in Wheelersburg.

Monday’s game was a make-up game from a postponement earlier in the year. Thursday’s bout is regularly scheduled programming. 

Needless to say, both Wheelersburg and Waverly will know what they’re up against.

“It’s a very unique situation. I don’t know that I’ve ever played a team in the conference back-to-back like this,” Spradlin said. “It’s not happened that I know of. But we’ll go back, hopefully we’ll shoot the ball a little better in our gym, but I can’t imagine [Waverly’s] game plan is changing too much. They have to feel pretty good about themselves holding us to what they did. We’ll take the win on the road and keep moving forward.”

BOX SCORE

Wheelersburg: 10-8-7-12 — 37

Waverly: 7-7-6-12 — 32

Wheelersburg: 12-38 FG, 7-11 FT, 6-20 3pt., 19 rebounds (Eaton 6), 11 turnovers, 9 assists (Walker 2, Vastine 2). Scoring: Rucker 12, Whittaker 8, Walker 7, Coriell 4, Eaton 3, Vastine 3.

Waverly: 12-35 FG, 4-8 FT, 4-12 3pt., 21 rebounds (Stewart 7), 19 turnovers, 9 assists (Tackett 3). Scoring: Vulgamore 15, Stewart 10, O’Bryant 7.

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