Girls Basketball: Wise 66, Great Mills 59

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By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC

They had watched as the 14-point, fourth quarter lead they worked so hard to get slid to a mere two with less than two minutes remaining. But with the visiting Great Mills Hornets surging on Wednesday night, Leslie Slayton and here Wise Pumas teammates knew it was time to stop the bleeding.

"It was definitely hard," Slayton said. "We had to pull together as a team and feel off of each other's energy. Great Mills is a good team. They're very scrappy, but in the end we pulled it together."

Slayton hit 5 of 6 free throws over the final minute to help the Pumas seal their season opener in victorious fashion, 66-59 over Great Mills.   

Wise (1-0) got off to a sluggish start in the turnover-filled contest, and trailed Great Mills (0-3) through the bulk of the game until a Janay Bourn bucket put the Pumas ahead 40-39 late in the third quarter. Bourn's basket triggered an eight-point run that gave the Pumas a lead they would never relent.

Elqua Brooks knocked down a three-pointer to open the fourth to increase the Pumas' lead to 51-43. The lead grew to 57-43, the largest margin enjoyed by either side in the game, before the Hornets' Shawnese Taylor scored to break the run.Taylor's basket not only broke what was at that point a 11-point Wise run, it woke up her team, which launched a run of its own.

After trailing by 14, Great Mills reeled off 14 of the next 16 points, and closed to within 59-57 on Shamara Adams' basket with less than two minutes to play. But Wise scored seven of the game's final nine points to hold off the Hornets.

"Just a little sloppy -- I think probably first-game jitters for the kids," Wise coach Walter Clark said. "I thought Great Mills played real hard. In all honestly, I thought we had superior talent. I think in the end that's what happened."

Slayton and Bourn each scored 13 points to lead a group of nine Pumas that scored. Jordan Swails also hit double digits with an 11-point effort.

The Pumas next scheduled action is Friday night at Suitland, where Clark hopes to see improved execution on both ends of the floor.

"I'm happy about the win," he said, "and I talked to the girls at the end and they realize we have a lot of work to do."

Taylor led Great Mills with a game-high 17 points. Adams, who battled foul trouble throughout the game, scored 12, while Corleda Naylor added 10. Like the Pumas, the Hornets had difficulty handling the ball at times -- turning the ball over nearly 40 times -- but still produced their best effort of the season, according to Coach Brian Weisner. In two previous games, Great Mills lost to St. Mary's Ryken and River Hill, both on the road.

"We knew we were going to be playing tough competition," Weisner said. "We're pleased with the progression we're seeing in our team. There's still, obviously, a long way to go.

"All in all, we're getting to the place we need to be. Obviously we're not there yet, but we're getting there."

As defending SMAC and 3A South champs, expectations are always high for the Hornets. But this year's team infuses plenty of youth with a core group of five seniors. But with that group of seniors leading the way, the younger players are learning about the effort and intensity necessary to compete and received a good lesson in that in nearly coming back from 14 points down in the final moments on Wednesday.

"They've been in games. These kids have experiences and it's not something that you easily forget," Weisner said. "It's tryng to work the younger kids in, to understand these experiences and what it takes to fight back the way we did. That's something that makes you really proud of what you're seeing."

Great Mills finally goes home on Friday, scheduled to host county rival Leonardtown in its first SMAC contest of the season.

"We have to earn anything we're going to get," Weisner said. "We have to have the desire and determination to go after it."
 
Wise 66, Great Mills 59
GM    17    15    11    16
HW    16    14    18    18
Great Mills: Taylor 17, Adams 12, Naylor 10, T. Baker 7, T. Butler 4, R. Butler 3, Bradburn 3, Thomas 2, J. Baker 1
Wise: Bourn 13, Slayton 13, Swails 11, Pope-Addison 8, Waters 6, Smith 6, Blackburn 4, Brooks 3, Gibson 2