Wheeling Park surges late to hand Fairmont Senior their first loss, 63-53

WHEELING, W.Va. — Wheeling Park used two lengthy second half scoring runs to deal Fairmont Senior their first loss of the season, 63-53 at The Palace.

After yielding 20 points in the opening quarter, the Patriots (14-2) allowed just 33 points the rest of the way.

“When it came down to it, we buckled down and played defense and made it hard on them,” said Wheeling Park head coach Ryan Young.

The Polar Bears (13-1) jumped out to a 20-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Marley Washenitz scored 15 points in the opening stanza and 19 in the game.

“Marley came out real hot for them and dug us a big hole. Sophia Abraham was the MVP tonight for us for sure. She kept us in the game when we were struggling to score. As the game went on, our scorers got a lot more comfortable. But she definitely held it for us while that was going on.”

The Patriots trimmed their deficit to six points [30-24] at halftime. A 17-4 run in the third quarter gave Park a 42-38 lead heading into the fourth.

With 5:30 remaining, A steal and score from Fairmont Senior’s Meredith Maier evened the score at 44. Park quickly responded with a 13-5 run to secure the victory.

“At the end of the game, we handled the ball a lot better than we did against Morgantown. And we made free throws. I told the kids that if we play like we did in the second half, we will be a tough team to beat.”

Lala Woods led the Patriots with 19 points. Abraham and Natalie Daughtery scored 13 points each and Alexis Bordas added ten. Park collected their second impressive victory in three days after knocking off Morgantown in triple overtime on Thursday.

“They say that freshmen and sophomores grow up and become sophomores and juniors as the season goes on. I kind of think that’s where we are headed with those kids. Our seniors continue to be solid players and leaders for us. It is a team effort. We are definitely a team that goes eight or nine deep. In most games, we need all eight or nine. This game was an example of that.”

In addition to Washenitz’s 19 points, Maier [15] and Laynie Beresford [12] scored in double figures for the Polar Bears.





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