Right out of the gate, the Westville Lady Yellowjackets set the tone vs. the Hulbert girls basketball.
Using a strong press-and-trap defense, the Lady Yellowjackets jumped out to a strong lead and never looked back as the Lady Rider offense couldn’t get in rhythm.
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This led to a 51-37 loss to the Lady Riders, Friday, Jan. 9, at home.
“It was a very physical game against a really good 3A team,” HHS head coach Josephy McClure said. “The whole coaching staff is pleased with our efforts and fighting back late. We’re the smaller team in a physical battle. We’ve seen a lot of growth tonight.”
Despite the loss, the Lady Riders made the game close late, as the final quarter was the most competitive. With some key shots from Chambers, HHS cut the lead down to 7 at one point. With the HHS crowd rocking behind them, the Lady Riders played with strong energy but couldn’t overcome the foul game.
“At times we played like we were afraid to mess up, especially early in the game,” McClure said. “In the fourth, we were just out there playing basketball, going hard, playing with effort, taking open shots and just playing hard.”
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The press from the Lady Yellowjackets was all over the Lady Riders’ offense to start the game, leading to plenty of turnovers and steals. WHS took a 6-0 lead with 4:45 on the clock in the first quarter.
HHS didn’t pick up their its points until there was 2:20 left in the quarter with a 3-pointer from Mya Henson.
Shortly after, Brandy Park hit a free throw to go into the second quarter down 10-4.
After nearly three minutes of scoreless ball, Sadie Chambers hit a pair of free throws and the scoring flooded the game. Westville scored 20 points in the quarter to head into halftime, leading the Lady Riders 30-15.
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After halftime, the Hulbert tightened up on defense, but still were looking up in the scoreboard. In the third quarter, the Lady Riders only gave up 10 points, but only posted 11 themselves to head into the fourth down, 40-26.
The Lady Riders close the home invite, Saturday, Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. in the third-place game.
“We just want to show up [for the last game],” McClure said. “We play like we did today effort-wise, I think we’re going to compete with anyone on the schedule.”
