By DAN BISER
Sports Editor
LAKE WACCAMAW - It was a happy homecoming week for Gary Battle,
Battle, who served as East Columbus High head boys basketball coach from 1992 to 2002, guided his Pender Lady Patriot team to a 71-66 overtime victory over regular-season champion Whiteville to capture the girls division championship of the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference Basketball Tournament at the ECHS gym.
“I don’t know when I’ve had more fun on this floor in one week,” said Battle, whose squad had defeated Trask on Monday and host East Columbus on Thursday to advance to the championship game against the four-time defending tournament champion Whiteville.
Pender, which lost both of its regular-season games with Whiteville, got a 30-point performance from guard Janetta Robinson. Latasha Holmes had 18 points and Muriel Seabrooks scored 16 as the Lady Patriots handed Whiteville only its third loss of the season.
Paige McCallum countered with 30 points for Whiteville, including a 3-point shot right before the buzzer that sent the game into overtime.
Portia Baldwin pumped in 15 points, followed by Talena Fasion with 13, as the Lady Wolfpack’s record slipped to 21-3.
“The bottom line is that we got outplayed,” said WHS coach Dudley Revels. “We did all we could to stay in it, but we missed a lot of shots and made too many turnovers, Pender deserves a lot of credit for the way they played.”
Battle said his team “played their hearts out.
“To beat Whiteville, you have to be sharp for four quarters and limit the mistakes,” Battle said. “Our girls did a great job, coming back from a win over East Columbus last night to beat Whiteville for the championship.”
Pender led 33-25 at the half and Whiteville went on a 9-0 run at the close of the third quarter to tie the game at 39-all.
Faison, Baldwin and McCallum all had strong fourth quarters, answering the strong play of Robinson. McCallum’s big 3-pointer tied the game at 54 brought on the extra period.
In the high-scoring overtime, a 15-foot jumper by Baldwin cut the Pender lead to 67-66 with 38.7 seconds left. Whiteville had three opportunities to gain the lead before the foul-shooting of Robinson put the game out of reach in the final 12 seconds.
Whiteville will play host to South Lenoir Tuesday night at 7 in the opening round of the state 2A playoffs. Pender will entertain Princeton Tuesday in the opening round of the state 1A playoffs.
| Pender |
17
|
16
|
6
|
15
|
17
|
-
|
71
|
| Whiteville |
14
|
11
|
14
|
15
|
12
|
-
|
66
|
PENDER (71): Holmes 18, Seabrooks 16, Robinson 16, Roper 2, Gresham 5.
WHITEVILLE (66): Gore 6, Faison 13, Drayton 2, McCallum 27, Baldwin 15.
