Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive |
Wolverettes Take Top Seed, Co-Championship With Win Over DeQueenBY JOHN MILLERPublished Wednesday, February 18, 1998 in the Nevada County Picayune In his first season as head coach of the Prescott Wolverettes, Bill Cossey has a conference co-championship to show for it. This momentous event occurred Tuesday, Feb. 10, when De Queen came to town and left wishing they'd stayed home. However, the game opened with the Lady Leopards playing as if they were planning to take the 7AA conference title outright. Earlier in the year, De Queen handed Prescott its only league loss in Leopard land. The Wolverettes wanted revenge, and got it with a 74-58 win. Tuesday's game opened with the Lady Leopards in a full-court press, while Prescott was in a 1-3-1 zone. The Wolverettes scored the first four points of the game as the Lady Leopards were ice cold from the field early on. The two squads raced up and down the court, each looking for a weakness in the other's defense. After De Queen tied the game at 6-6, the Wolverettes pulled ahead 10-6 with 3:13 left in the opening period. The officials got into the act by calling several fouls in the first period. Before the initial eight minutes ended, De Queen was in the bonus. Prescott's defense was mercenary with Andrea Cossey slapping shot after shot away when a Lady Leopard would attempt to fire away. This forced De Queen to shoot from the perimeter. And, as the first period ended, the Lady Leopards nailed a trey to take a 13-12 lead. Period two opened with the Lady Leopards shooting lights out, missing almost nothing. Both crews contested each and every shot and dribble down the court, making sure every point was earned. With 4:46 showing in the second, De Queen held a 23-17 lead. Then, the lights literally went out for a short while. Fans were locked in total darkness for a couple of minutes, with play, obviously, being suspended. Side lights in the gym came on first, providing enough illumination for the officials to allow play to resume, but in a low-light situation. Prescott's half-court press affected De Queen as the Wolverettes went up 25-23 with 1:03 showing. However, the Lady Leopards didn't make the trip from De Queen to roll over and play dead (at least not quite that soon), as they scored the final five points of the half. De Queen led 28-25 at the break. The Wolverettes reentered the gym with fire in their eyes during the third period. Cossey, when she wasn't slapping the ball away from a Lady Leopard, was deadly accurate from three-point land. She ended the game with seven threes. Prescott took the lead on a three-pointer by Traci Graham after Cossey's bomb tied the game. In fact, the Wolverettes hit their first five shots of the third period to put some distance between them and De Queen. The Lady Leopards were confused on defense as they didn't know who to guard. If they doubled Cossey, Graham would kill them. If they doubled Graham, Cossey would do the same. If they tried to guard both, Stacy Stockton dominated in the paint. Stockton unveiled a new weapon in her offensive arsenal against De Queen a reverse layup. When a Lady Leopard tried to stop her in the paint, Stockton simply added a dribble and step as she gently rolled the ball into the goal from the back side. The officials, though, made sure De Queen stayed in the game, somewhat, while the Lady Leopards appeared to get away with murder. With 4:23 showing, Prescott led 39-32. But, with the help of the zebras, De Queen tied the game at 39-39 with 3:11 on the clock. This didn't set well with the Wolverettes as Cossey fired away from outside. For the remainder of the period, the Wolverettes outscored De Queen 12-5 to take a 51-44 lead into the final eight minutes. The third quarter ended with Jessica Hendrix canning a shot at the buzzer from close range. The knockout punch came early in the fourth quarter. The Wolverettes began pulling away, 59-44 with 5:21 left, as Cossey fired away from long range and the tandem of Graham and Stockton punished the Lady Leopards inside. The Wolverettes knew they had to win the game by more than 10 points or De Queen would have the conference crown outright. This proved to be no problem. With 4:19 to go in the game, Prescott was up 61-46. Fear showed in the eyes of the Lady Leopards. This sent the Wolverettes into a feeding frenzy as they hungered for at least a share of the league title. No matter what the Lady Leopards tried, the Wolverettes had an answer. PRESCOTT 75 BLEVINS 49 With a share of the conference title under their belt, the Wolverettes decided to end the regular season by whipping the Blevins Lady Hornets 75-49, as they prepared for the district tournament. It was also Senior Night Friday, Feb. 13, an unlucky day for Blevins. The senior members of the Wolverettes, along with the senior cheerleaders, were honored before the game began. This was the closest Blevins would get to winning for the remainder of the evening. The Wolverettes were loose and relaxed during warmup, with this attitude flowing over into the game. As it wasn't a conference game, it had no bearing on where the Wolverettes would finish in the 7AA. Still, the team had no intention of ending their regular season of battles on the hardwood with a loss. With this in mind, Prescott came out playing as smooth as a Swiss watch. Blevins was stunned early as the Wolverettes hustled all over the court. The Lady Hornets had no response to Prescott's pressure and slick ballhandling. The Wolverettes were up 4-0 early, pushing this to a 9-2 lead with 5:05 left in the first. Cossey picked up blocking shots where she left off against De Queen Tuesday night. Her blocks, much like a volleyball slam, intimidated the Lady Hornet players, making them alter their shots. Prescott was having fun on the court, knowing the outcome was meaningless, except for pride and the win-loss record. Leading 13-4 with 3:45 showing, Coach Bill Cossey began substituting. Throughout the first three quarters he kept two of his big three in the game. He rested Cossey, Graham and Stockton at different intervals, while giving others on the bench more game experience. Period one ended with the Wolverettes up 20-11. During the first quarter the Lady Hornets had gotten away with several hip checks. In the second period, the Wolverettes made them pay. Each mistake proved to be costly as a Wolverette would flash downcourt for an easy layup. Playing more in the post position than at guard, Stockton was mauled by Blevins players. This didn't go over well with the junior player, who took her pound of flesh in return. As Cossey continued her long-range attack, Blevins was flabbergasted, with no clue as to how to defense Prescott. Halftime saw the Wolverettes with a 37-23 lead and not looking back. Prescott was merciless in the third quarter. Cossey began driving inside, thereby confusing Blevins even Search | Nevada County Picayune by date | Gurdon Times by date |
Newspaper articles have been contributed to the Prescott Community Freenet Association as a "current history" of our area. Articles dated December 1981 through May 2001 were contributed by Ragsdale Printing Company, Inc. Articles June 2001 to ? were contributed by Better Built Group, Inc. Articles ? to October 2008 were contributed by GateHouse Media. Ownership of all Nevada County Picayune content from the beginning of the newspaper, including predecessors, until May 2001 was contributed by the John and Betty Ragsdale family to the Prescott Community Freenet Association. Content on this site may not be archived, retransmitted, saved in a database, or used for any commercial purpose without express written permission. Web hosting by and presentation style copyright ©1999-2009 Danny Stewart |