Oak Grove girls overcome slow start
By GREER SMITH ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER Dec 27, 2022 Updated 3 hrs ago
HIGH POINT — Oak Grove’s girls basketball team roared back Tuesday.
The Grizzlies erased a large early deficit, led most of the second half and defeated Wesleyan Christian 62-54 in the opening round of the Sheetz Holiday Christmas Classic at Southwest Guilford.
Oak Grove (6-4) advances to play High Point Christian in the semifinals today at 3 p.m. in the Coggins Gym. HPCA downed West Forsyth 45-32. Wesleyan (7-7) plays the Titans in a consolation game at 1:30 p.m.
“We tried to light a spark in them at the end of the first quarter in our sideline talk,” Oak Grove head coach Lynne Rausch said. “And I think they realized we better show up.”
Zaire Jones and Haley Long each scored 13 in leading the Grizzlies. Trista Charles added 10.
Avery Ray grabbed 10 rebounds and scored seven points. Long and Hailey Kidder each picked five steals.
Oak Grove trailed by 15 when Rausch gave her lecture between after the first quarter and the margin grew to 17 when the Trojans hit the first bucket of the second quarter. The Grizzlies then went on a 13-2 run in pulling within six and trailed 26-21 at the half.
“We didn’t play well in the first quarter,” Rausch said. “We missed a lot of easy shots.”
Sparked by forcing turnovers on Wesleyan’s first three possessions of the third quarter, Oak Grove opened the second half on a 13-2 roll that included taking the lead 30-28 when Charles hit three free throws.
“Our defensive intensity started creating offense, and that’s always a key,” Rausch said. “I think we knew they were going to be feisty and aggressive. We were just as ready for it as we had talked about.”
The Grizzlies owned a 34-28 lead when the burst was over, and Wesleyan (7-7) failed to get closer than two the rest of the way. Up three at the end of the third quarter, Oak Grove quickly increased the margin to 49-41 and the teams traded baskets until the final minute.
Lily Pereira scored 17 points and Taylor Hawley 15 for the Trojans, who built most of its big early lead by scoring the last 15 points of the first quarter that included10 from Hawley.
“They’re a really good team,” Wesleyan coach Daniel McRae said. “They missed some stuff early and we sped them up early. It was a bit of fool’s gold during that start. It was a 21-4 lead, but kids take a deep breath and say, ‘We’ve got this,’ when they don’t. It’s girls basketball and there’s no lead too big in girls basketball.”
Wesleyan still had a chance of possibly pulling out a victory when it forced a turnover trailing by six with just under two minutes left. But, the Trojans missed a 3-point attempt from the corner and Rausch narrowly called a timeout in time to avoid a five-second call after the Grizzlies got the ball into the front court.
That possession ended with Jones hitting two free throws. After another Wesleyan miss, she hit two more that pushed the margin to 60-50 with 45.7 seconds to go.
By GREER SMITH ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER Dec 27, 2022 Updated 3 hrs ago
HIGH POINT — Oak Grove’s girls basketball team roared back Tuesday.
The Grizzlies erased a large early deficit, led most of the second half and defeated Wesleyan Christian 62-54 in the opening round of the Sheetz Holiday Christmas Classic at Southwest Guilford.
Oak Grove (6-4) advances to play High Point Christian in the semifinals today at 3 p.m. in the Coggins Gym. HPCA downed West Forsyth 45-32. Wesleyan (7-7) plays the Titans in a consolation game at 1:30 p.m.
“We tried to light a spark in them at the end of the first quarter in our sideline talk,” Oak Grove head coach Lynne Rausch said. “And I think they realized we better show up.”
Zaire Jones and Haley Long each scored 13 in leading the Grizzlies. Trista Charles added 10.
Avery Ray grabbed 10 rebounds and scored seven points. Long and Hailey Kidder each picked five steals.
Oak Grove trailed by 15 when Rausch gave her lecture between after the first quarter and the margin grew to 17 when the Trojans hit the first bucket of the second quarter. The Grizzlies then went on a 13-2 run in pulling within six and trailed 26-21 at the half.
“We didn’t play well in the first quarter,” Rausch said. “We missed a lot of easy shots.”
Sparked by forcing turnovers on Wesleyan’s first three possessions of the third quarter, Oak Grove opened the second half on a 13-2 roll that included taking the lead 30-28 when Charles hit three free throws.
“Our defensive intensity started creating offense, and that’s always a key,” Rausch said. “I think we knew they were going to be feisty and aggressive. We were just as ready for it as we had talked about.”
The Grizzlies owned a 34-28 lead when the burst was over, and Wesleyan (7-7) failed to get closer than two the rest of the way. Up three at the end of the third quarter, Oak Grove quickly increased the margin to 49-41 and the teams traded baskets until the final minute.
Lily Pereira scored 17 points and Taylor Hawley 15 for the Trojans, who built most of its big early lead by scoring the last 15 points of the first quarter that included10 from Hawley.
“They’re a really good team,” Wesleyan coach Daniel McRae said. “They missed some stuff early and we sped them up early. It was a bit of fool’s gold during that start. It was a 21-4 lead, but kids take a deep breath and say, ‘We’ve got this,’ when they don’t. It’s girls basketball and there’s no lead too big in girls basketball.”
Wesleyan still had a chance of possibly pulling out a victory when it forced a turnover trailing by six with just under two minutes left. But, the Trojans missed a 3-point attempt from the corner and Rausch narrowly called a timeout in time to avoid a five-second call after the Grizzlies got the ball into the front court.
That possession ended with Jones hitting two free throws. After another Wesleyan miss, she hit two more that pushed the margin to 60-50 with 45.7 seconds to go.
