Sarah Michael leads Wood County Christian to 1st win
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WILLIAMSTOWN -- Wood County Christian School went from famine to feast.
After being routed at Grace in Tuesday's season opener, the Wildcats bounced back to drill visiting Ohio Valley Christian School, 61-12, in girls' prep basketball action Friday night.
"We just came back from a game where we got beat soundly (at Grace)," said WCCS head coach A.G. Harris. "So, we worked on our press this week in practice and had no idea what to expect when OVC came up here. But it (press) worked, and it's something we're going to stick with and use more often."
The Wildcat halfcourt trap produced 22 OVC turnovers, and defensively, WCCS (1-1) limited the Defenders (1-4) from Gallipolis to just five field goals and no free-throw attempts in the contest. Wood County Christian also blanked OVC in the third quarter.
Junior Sarah Michael paced the Cats with a game-high 17 points, while freshman Stella Dunn added 14 and had a solid floor game at the point. Freshman Sophie Daugherty had a double-double with 10 markers and 12 rebounds. Freshman Bridget Ward chipped in with six points.
"Out of 12 girls on this team, eight of them are freshman and sophomores," Harris said. "So, we're very, very young."
Sparked by Dunn's seven points and Michael's five, WCCS staked itself to an 18-2 first-quarter advantage. Ohio Valley Christian averted a shutout in the opening stanza when Christina Dong made a bucket with under a minute remaining.
Michael continued to have the hot hand in the second period, scoring six points, as the Wildcats led 38-7 at the intermission. Kenzie Childers drained a 3 and Lauren Ragan had a deuce for the Defenders in the second stanza.
In the third quarter, WCCS outpointed OVC, 13-0, and stretched its lead to 51-7.
"We weren't really trying to do that really (shut OVC out)," Harris said, "because I've been on both ends, the bottom and the top."
Ron Johnston can be reached at rjohnston@mariettatimes.com