Picture Perfect

The White County Middle School seventh-grade girls basketball team wrapped up a perfect season last week by winning the Mountain League Tournament in Blairsville.

After a 14-0 run during the regular season, the Lady Warriors knocked off Clear Creek and Pickens County to finish off the run and become the first WCMS girls' squad to post an unbeaten season since 2016-17 when the middle school squad featured current varsity players Dasha Cannon, Maddie Futch, Madison Adams, Mckenna Moose, and Camryn McAfee.

The members of this year's team are Jada Palumbo, Emma Lightsey, Lauren Black, Emily Rhoads, Jenna Pratt, Mya Yeh, Kiannah Dorsey, Madi Black, Paisley Cathey, Sarah Grace Jarrard, Emma Kerley, Kylie Watkins, and Amelia Kennedy. The head coach is Jodie Watkins, with Kyle Watkins serving as an assistant coach. The team managers are Brooklyn Thomason and MaKenna Clark.

“It's a very talented group,” Jodie Watkins said. “They want to work hard and they have a lot of intangibles. They understand how to play as team, and they do things you can't coach. It's just a really good group. They've really gelled as a group. We don't have a lot of size in this group, but we make up for it with a quickness and speed.”

A large portion of the roster has played together for a fews years on a travel team, and that experience is paying off now at the middle school level.

“I think there's eight of the 13 players on the roster that have played together, and probably more than that going back (to recreation level  leagues),” Watkins said. “They've been playing together for several years now, and it shows on the court. We try to coach to the style that suits the kids. I like to play man, and we press. I think pressing is where it's at. And that fits this group. We want to press you and try to put people away.”

The team dominated throughout the season, winning almost every game by double figures. In fact, a lot of games were over by halftime, which meant lots of playing time for everyone on the roster. Watkins said keeping the team focused was the main issue throughout the regular season thanks to the lopsided wins.

“Once we started winning by 20 or more points every game, I think the girls started putting pressure on themselves to keep it up,” Watkins said. “Then we had some games when we didn't shoot the ball very well, had trouble scoring. It became a mental thing for them to try stay focused, stay hungry. I didn't put any pressure on them to keep winning by so many points every game, I just told them to play their best and the score would take care of itself.”

In the tournament semifinals, the Lady Warriors got off to their slowest start of the season, trailing 8-7 after the opening quarter against Clear Creek. It was the first time all season the team trailed at the end of a quarter. The Lady Warriors shut Clear Creek out in the second quarter to take a 14-8 lead at halftime, and the held on to the lead throughout the second half for a 37-29 win.

“It was bad in the first quarter; our shooting was bad,” Watkins said. “I think the girls were a little shocked. I told them to relax and keep shooting.”

Lightsey had a big second half, scoring 11 of her game-high 14 points. She scored seven points in the third quarter, and tacked on four more in the fourth to help finish off Clear Creek. Yeh had nine points, including seven in the first half, while Palumbo had six points. Pratt had four points, Cathey and Watkins each had two points.

“It's not easy to have to play a team three times,” Watkins said. “Even a team you've beaten twice before, it's a little harder the third time. They know what you are going to do, they've made some adjustments, so it's hard to beat a team three times.”

In the championship matchup, the Lady Warriors got off to another slow start against Pickens County, but used a big third quarter run to blow open the game on the way to a 38-23 win.

“We got off to another rough start; it was 4-4 after the first quarter,” Watkins said. “We weren't very good (offensively) the last three or four games, but we managed to get up by seven by halftime, and then had a good third quarter to blow open the game.”

Watkins and Cathey each scored four points in the second quarter, while Lightsey connected on a 3-pointer as the Lady Warriors built a 17-10 lead.

In the third quarter, Cathey led 16-6 run with five points, with Palumbo and Yeh both scoring four points, and Lightsey hitting a 3-pointer for a 33-16 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Cathey finished off the day with 13 points, while Yeh had eight and Lightsey scored seven. Watkins and Palumbo each scored four points, and Pratt had two points.