WILMINGTON — Sparked by an impressive second quarter defensive effort, Wilmington cruised by Bethel-Tate 61-22 Friday night in the season opener at Fred Summers Court.
The Hurricane forced 15 Tiger turnovers in the second and scored 29 of 31 points in the period.
“They did a good job of doing what they needed to do to get the job done,” WHS head coach Zach Williams said.
Miya Nance, one of five freshmen on the young WHS roster, led the way with 18 points, seven rebounds, six steals and seven assists.
Taija Walker, the only senior on the team, grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds.
Wilmington led 6-4 midway through the first period as both offenses struggled to find a rhythm.
Elle Martin hit a three-pointer to make it 9-4 then Aidynne Tippett fed Walker inside for a basket to push the WHS margin to seven. That 5-0 outburst seemed miniscule at the time but it started a stretch where Wilmington outscored Bethel-Tate 36 to 3, with the bulk of that coming in the second period when the Hurricane defense pushed the tempo.
All 10 players in orange and black had significant minutes throughout the night and the depth and freshness allowed Williams to keep the pressure on.
“I kinda wanted to get the jitters out in the first quarter,” Williams said. “We have a lot of young girls playing. We wanted them to settle in and then turn it up, try some different things.”
Wilmington’s lead grew to 42-7 in the third when Bethel-Tate ended a 0-for-9 field goal drought. WHS struggled itself on offense, hitting just 2 of 12 shots in the third period.
“We got sloppy in the second half,” said Williams. “There are some things we have to clean up.”
Once out in front, Wilmington had no trouble winning its first game. The disparity in the two halves is something Williams expects with a team that sports five freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and a senior.
“We have a young team; there will be some ups and downs,” he said. “There will have to be some understanding on both (coaches and players) our parts. How we mesh it all together is going to be a learning process.”
SUMMARY
Nov 24, 2023
@Fred Summers Court
Wilmington 61, Bethel-Tate 22
W^11^10^19^21^^61
BT^4^2^4^12^^22
(22) BETHEL-TATE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Tolliver 3-0-1-7 Johnson 1-1-1-4 Thompson 1-0-0-2 Zeller 1-0-0-2 Sandker 1-0-2-4 Ross 0-0-0-0 Darnell 0-0-0-0 Vinson 1-0-0-2 Moorhead 0-0-1-1 Schrag 0-0-0-0 TOTALS 8-1-5-22
(61) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Nance 8-1-1-18 Conley 3-1-0-7 E Martin 2-1-4-9 Bayless 1-0-0-2 Tippett 1-0-0-2 Brown 1-1-1-4 A Martin 0-0-3-3 Hudson 1-1-2-5 Cole 1-0-0-2 Walker 3-0-0-6 TOTALS 22-5-12-61
FIELD GOALS: BT (8-32); W (22-59) Nance 8-13 Conley 3-7
3 PT FIELD GOALS: BT (1-7); W (5-10)
FREE THROWS: BT (5-14); W (12-23) E Martin 4-4 A Martin 3-4 Hudson 2-2
REBOUNDS: BT-32 (Tolliver 7 Sandker 6); W-41 (Walker 10 Nance 7 A Martin 5 E Martin 4 Bayless 4 Hudson 3 Tippett 1 Brown 1 Cole 1)
ASSISTS: BT-3; W-15 (Nance 7 Conley 3 A Martin 2 Cole 1 Tippett 1 Bayless 1)
STEALS: BT-7; W-19 (Nance 6 Bayless 4 A Martin 3 Walker 2 Hudson 1 Brown 1 Tippett 1)
BLOCKED SHOTS: BT-2; W-0
TURNOVERS: BT-30; W-15
