Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolverettes Battling For Second Place In 7AA

There is a battle in the 7-AA conference, but it's for second place in the girl's division.

Gurdon, with a perfect 5-0 record, has wrapped up the league title.

However, with DeQueen currently in second place, but with a date against the Lady Redbugs of Fordyce, and the Wolverettes in third, with Junction City left to play, the race is on.

The Wolverettes made a strong bid for the No. 2 slot in the division with a 62-41 pounding of the Scrapperettes of Nashville Tuesday, Jan. 30.

This was a must win game for Prescott's senior girls, and they had to win by at least 13 to stay in the running.

The Wolverettes opened with a 15-10 lead after one, and played it to a 29-24 advantage at the half.

The Prescott crew outscored the Scrapperettes 17-11 in the third period to take a 46-35 lead into the final eight minutes.

Normally, the Wolverettes have mental lapses during the final stanza. This time, however, the team played a full 32 minutes and slammed the door on Nashville with a 16-7 defensive blitz in the fourth quarter.

Four members of the Wolverettes posted double figure scoring, with Ashley Stewart leading the way with 22 points. Jessica Hildebrand, playing with the flu, added 13 to the win, while Gladies Gulley canned 12. Laura Culpepper, just back from a bout of pneumonia, sank 10. Leslie Hines contributed six.

Pugh was Nashville's leading scorer with 14.

The Wolverettes were seven of 13 from the line, while Nashville shot less than 50 percent at 10 of 21.

The win gave Prescott an 18-5 overall mark and a 3-2 league record.

"We hope we get to make the long trip to Star City," Coach Cecily Butler said of regional play. The regional tournament will be held in Star City Feb. 19-24.

The AA district tourney will be in Fordyce Feb. 12-17.

Stewart, Butler said, had a double-double in the game, as she pulled down 13 rebounds to go with her 22 points.

"They played an outstanding game offensively and defensively," Butler said. "Especially in the fourth quarter.

"They settled down. We tend to go haywire in the fourth period.

"We must play under control, but we tend to panic in the fourth when we're in pressure situations."

However, the Wolverettes handled the pressure from Nashville and played themselves into position for a second place finish in the division.

Butler said her team must continue to handle the pressure late in the game if they are to advance in the district and regional tourneys.

"When we go to district, we've got to think on our feet," she said. "With us being a young team, that's hard to ask. I told them they're not young anymore, they're seasoned (as a team)."

The senior teams had a date with the Lady Dragons of Junction City Tuesday night to determine their finishing place in the conference.