Late third-quarter run sparks Wilson girls
Patrick Hite, Staunton News LeaderPublished 8:20 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2018
FISHERSVILLE - Wilson Memorial had four players in double figures Friday as the Hornets beat Lee High 62-55 in girls basketball.
Korinne Baska led Wilson with 16 points, while Paris Hutchinson added 13, LeAnna Rankin finished with 12 and Madison Flint had 10 in the win.
Wilson coach Jackie Bryan was happy to see the balance.
"It's very important," she said. "It just proves my point that we're a team and it's going to take all of us."
Wilson bounced back two nights after a tough loss to Luray, improving to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Shenandoah District play.
Wilson took a two-point lead into halftime after Hutchinson hit a runner to beat the buzzer.
Lee scored the first two buckets of the third quarter, including layup by Keziah Williams for the first of four lead changes in the quarter. The final one came when Wilson's Baska scored to put her team in front 39-38.
That basket by the Wilson sophomore started a quarter-ending, 9-0 run. Baska added a 3 in the run, while Brooke Cason and Flint both had buckets to put the Hornets in front 46-38 heading to the fourth. It was the largest lead by either team to that point.
"It was really important," Baska said of the run. "We were working as a team this game. we kind of struggled with that on Wednesday against Luray and we worked hard on that in practice yesterday and we did everything good. We just wanted to come into the game strong."
Wilson stretched it to 51-40 early in the fourth, but Lee got a jumper by sophomore Kaitlyn Lobb and a layup from freshman Emma Witt to get within seven with 4:02 left.
Rankin stopped any threat with a 3-pointer to get Wilson back to double-digit lead.
Keziah Williams and Witt both had 20 to lead Lee High.
Lee was still without Lexi Hall, who was injured during volleyball season. Lee coach Josh McElheny hopes to have her back very soon. He said Williams has had to adjust to playing without Hall, but he saw her take a big step forward Friday.
"Keziah played great tonight," McElheny said. "We've been waiting for her to come around. She hasn't had to be the big person. We told her, 'Be the big person,' because it's only going to help. If she can do that and Lexi is back, that's going to cause problems."
Wilson will get a couple of tough road tests next week, traveling to Page County and Stuarts Draft. Lee had a three-game week, on the road at Luray and Fort Defiance before hosting Riverheads next Friday night.
