By Gene Schallenberg
NEW WAVERLY — With their playoff hopes on the line, the Lady Dogs needed to have one of their best performances of the season.
Tied with Groveton and Buffalo for second place and the final two playoff berths, New Waverly knew that a win over the Lady Indians in the regular-season finale would clinch a spot in the playoffs, while a loss could end the season.
In what was a de facto playoff game on Tuesday, the Lady Dogs got off to a slow start, then exploded in the second quarter and never looked back.
The Lady Dogs played as complete a game as they could,coasting past the Lady Indians 61-38 and once again are playoff-bound.
Pending on the results of Buffalo’s game against Corrigan-Camden, the Lady Dogs will either be alone in second place or tied with the Lady Bison and will play either Shelbyville or Hemphill in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
“We knew we needed this one,” said Lady Dogs guard Kayla Williams, who led New Waverly with 30 points and hit five 3-pointers. “We don’t know what it’s like to not go to the playoffs and we didn’t want to start now.”
Lady Dogs post Jai Cleveland scored 10 points, blocked five shots and pulled down six rebounds. Shelby Nunez finished with six points and five boards. Myeisha Williams chipped in five points and four rebounds. Lavonna Smith and Mekayla McBride each added four points. Alex Abbott also contributed with two points.
After going back and forth in the first period, the Lady Dogs (10-4 in District 21-2A, 19-8 overall) held a slight 11-8 lead. But then the Lady Dogs went on an 18-5 run to start the second quarter.
Groveton cut the deficit down to single-digits at 29-21 with a little more than four minutes to play in the third quarter. The Lady Dogs forced the Lady Indians into bad shots and began to pull away.
“I told the girls before the game that we have to eliminate turnovers and we have to make shots and we did that,” New Waverly head coach Eldridge McAdams said. “I was real impressed. It was a big win. We’re real excited to see who we’ve got in the playoffs.”
