WHEELERSBURG — Starting out a game with high intensity is important to putting a team away early.
On Saturday afternoon, the Wheelersburg Pirates’ girls basketball program did exactly that — jumping out to a 19-4 lead after the opening quarter of play and developing as much as a 27-point lead (40-13) before cruising home to a 42-27 victory over the Peebles Indians’ girls basketball program in a nonconference contest that was held at Wheelersburg High School.
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Defense continued to rule the day for Wheelersburg, who, under longtime head coach Dusty Spradlin, has four wins in a row under its belt as the Lady Pirates have held the opposition to 27 points or less in each of its four wins after dropping its season-opening contest to OHSAA Division III Hamilton Badin.
“It was a good defensive effort by our girls (on Saturday),” Spradlin said. “We still had some moments where we’re really good and moments that weren’t so good, but I did like the fact that we got up early. I didn’t think our movement was great offensively, but it was okay. This game really gave us a chance to get some kids in, and that’s huge, because nowadays, it’s really hard to get junior varsity games in. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to play any other JV games yet, and those girls work hard too every day during practice. It’s always good to be able to get them in and get them some experience. You never know who might have to step in and fill a role. Things obviously change in a hurry, so we’ve got to try to get them as much experience as we can. It was a good win. We’ll take it.”
Before an eye could be blinked, Wheelersburg jumped out to an 11-2 advantage and ultimately increased its lead to a 19-4 edge by the end of the opening quarter as six different players — Jaylinn Prather, Peyton May, Ava Artrip, Myles Bailey, Makenzie Mullins and Callie DeHart — all scored in the quarter.
Of the six players, Bailey and Prather led Wheelersburg with five points apiece after the opening quarter — but the defensive pressure of the Lady Pirates’ guard duo in Artrip and DeHart proved to be what really gave Peebles fits.
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For the contest, the duo combined for no less than seven steals and five assists as the sophomore guards set the tempo throughout the first two-and-a-half quarters of action with their quickness and side-to-side defensive moment in picking up Lady Indians ballhanders at the timeline frustrating Peebles throughout the contest.
“Everyone focuses on the scoring, but there are so many ways to affect the game, and those two can really affect the game with their defensive pressure,” Spradlin said. “They can affect it with their ball movement. I thought that Ava was really good, especially getting into the lane and getting herself a couple of shots. She had some really nice passes down in the paint. I thought that both of them played well. They’re sophomores and are still figuring things out, and we have to kind of remind ourselves that they’re not as experienced as we think, even though they played a lot for us last year. They still need some time. They’ve been playing a lot better.”
In the second quarter of action, May went to work.
A talented and poised big who plays an unselfish style of basketball, May helped facilitate much of Wheelersburg’s offense in the second quarter. The senior forward opened up the scoring off of a pass from DeHart, found Prather open for a three-pointer on the wing that was canned, scored again off of an assist from Artrip, and got on the pogo stick to nab a rebound and a putback.
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By this point, Wheelersburg led 30-8 lead in the second quarter of action — and outside of Kendall Myers, who scored 10 points for Peebles in the first half of competition, only one other Lady Indian reached the scoreboard as the Lady Pirates led by a 30-12 count at the halftime break.
“We get a little locked in on the perimeter and we forget that we have a great threat inside, too,” Spradlin said. “Peyton has a soft touch around the basket, but she’s also a very good passer. Once we got it into her, it wasn’t long that, after she scored, she kicked one out (to Jaylinn Prather) for a three. It’s what you want to see as a coach. You want to see good ball movement and the ball find its way into the paint. Peyton certainly has the ability to score for us, and really works hard down around the paint. I was really pleased with her performance today.”
With a commanding lead at the halftime break, Wheelersburg wasted no time putting the game away for good — as Artrip scored on two quick drives to the rim and then knocked down a three-pointer off of May’s second assist of the night.
May then scored again off of another rebound and putback, and by the time that Lainey Skeenes had hit one of two free throws, a 10-0 Lady Pirate run had Wheelersburg up by a 40-13 margin before Spradlin began subbing freely.
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With the victory, the Lady Pirates (4-1) turned their attention to a key SOC III contest at Minford (5-1) Monday evening in what will be another big outing for both squads, who each are showing great returns to start the season.
“Hopefully, we can just keep getting better,” Spradlin said.
