DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP — Wilmington raced out to a 17-0 lead and never looked back in a 60-39 win over McNicholas Thursday in the opening round of the Kings Holiday Classic at Kings High School.
“I was very pleased with our performance. I was a little nervous after 12 days off since our last game,” said Wilmington head coach Zach Williams.
The Lady Hurricane will face tournament host Kings in the title game 7 p.m. Friday. The Lady Knights defeated Winton Woods 58-53 on Thursday.
Mya Jackson led the Hurricane with 33 points while Faith Sanderson scored 9. Leah Frisco who showed great hustle on both ends of the court ended the game with 8 points and also managed to score the first basket in each of the first three quarters.
Julia Brune, who shot 8-10 from the free throw line, led the Rockets with 17 points.
The Hurricane was lock-down defensive mode in the first quarter, not allowing the Rockets to score until around 2 minutes were left in the period. They also showed great ball movement with 4 different players scoring within the first 2 minutes.
“I thought that the girls were on the game plan, especially early on,” Williams said. “We jumped out to a 17-0 lead.”
After a great first quarter, the Hurricane went cold in the middle of the second letting McNicholas bring the game within single digits. The Rocket’s fuel, however, began to run out at the end of the half and the Hurricane was able to go into the locker room sitting on a 16-point lead, 35-19.
“I was a little scared there for a second,” said Williams “But I still felt confident. Our girls were still playing some solid defense, they were just making some not smart fouls.”
Nine out of the Rockets 12 points in the second quarter came from the free throw line.
The Rockets could never quite get off the ground in the second half being left in a 19-point hole at the end of the third period which expanded to a 21-point deficit by the end of the game.
SUMMARY
December 29, 2016
Kings Holiday Classic
@Kings High School
Wilmington 60 McNicholas 39
W 21.14.15.10…..60
M 07.12.12.08…..39
(60) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) J. Jamiel 0-0-1-1 Jackson 11-1-10-33 Quallen 0-0-0-0 McCord 0-0-0-0 Sanderson 4-0-1-9 K. Jamiel 1-0-4-6 Fryman 0-0-0-0 Edingfield 0-0-1-1 Stewart 1-0-0-2 Frisco 4-0-0-8. TOTALS 21-1-17-60
(39) McNICHOLAS (fg-3fg-ft-tp) K. Byrne 0-0-0-0 Vogler 0-0-0-0 Brune 4-1-8-17 Huber 1-0-1-3 E. Byrne 4-1-2-11 Geygan 3-0-1-7 Conard 0-0-0-0 Donnelly 0-0-0-0 Wall 0-0-1-1. TOTALS 12-2-12-39
