By Gene Schallenberg
NEW WAVERLY — When the Lady Bulldogs got themselves in a bind Tuesday, they leaned on junior Kayla Williams.
Williams gave New Waverly a big spark, scoring a season-high 39 points with 22 in the opening half, and lifting the Lady Bulldogs to a 57-40 victory over Hearne on Tuesday.
“She’s been playing some good ball,” New Waverly head coach Eldridge McAdams said. “She’s our leader and she’s the one we rely on. She stepped up and that’s what we’ve come to expect from her and that’s what she expects of herself. Anytime we need a point, she’s going to go get it.”
Sophomore Myeisha Williams chipped in nine points. Whitney McCullough, Shelby Nunez and Jai Cleveland each added two points. Alex Abbott contributed a point.
In the first few minutes of the game, neither team was able to produce much offense. Hearne took a 7-5 lead on a layup off a fast break by Justine Price and a free throw by Laresha Monroe, but then the Lady Dogs (6-2) started to hit shots and got into a groove.
New Waverly went on a 12-0 tear, highlighted by steal by Kayla Williams, who went coast to coast for a fast-break layup.
Hearne guard Re’Jana Ellison hit a jumper with 27 seconds left in the first quarter to pull the Lady Eagles to with eight points.
With a 30-15 halftime deficit, Hearne got more aggressive around the basket and got to the free-throw line. The Lady Eagles, however, were unable to convert on their chances and made just four free throws in 11 attempts.
New Waverly kept pushing the ball and scored in transition to maintain its double-digit lead into the fourth quarter.
With a sizeable lead, the Lady Dogs started to slow the game down to milk the clock, but that’s when they began to have problems turning the ball over.
“We’re a transition team,” McAdams said. “Anytime we try to walk the ball up and set up a play, we make turnovers. So we started to get after it, getting the ball up the floor and moving our offense. As we started doing that, we started getting points.
“In the second half, we slowed it down and we were just turning the ball over. That’s just not what we do. We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get turnover prone every time we put it into cruise control.”
Hearne got to within 10 points with less than three and a half minutes to play after Bra’shonda Adams made a layup and hit the extra free throw, completing an old-fashioned 3-point play.
The Lady Dogs got back to playing at a fast pace and Hearne couldn’t answer.
New Waverly extended its lead after Abbott sunk the first of two free throws and Kayla Williams made a layup off a screen by Abbott.
The Lady Dogs held Hearne scoreless the rest of the way, walking away with a comfortable win.
“Our defense kind of tightened up there at the end,” Kayla Williams said. “We’re glad that we were able to get a win in one of our last games before district starts next week.”
The Lady Dogs return to action Thursday when they play Iola at 9:30 a.m. in the opening round of the North Zulch tournament.
