Lady Eagles' Game 15; Eagles' Game 16

The Lady Eagles took the court for the first time this week, while the Eagles were playing their third game in four nights as Victory Life travelled to Wister on Friday night. For the first time in some weeks, both teams came away with victories in the same setting. The Lady Eagles defeated the Lady Wildcats 58-51 to move to 7-8 on the season. The Eagles were victorious over the Wister J.V. team, 53-48, going 2-1 for the week and moved to 6-10 this year.
The Lady Eagles defeated Wister earlier in the season at the EOSC Tournament and picked up where they left off in that first round game. VLA shot well all night and forced Wister to play aggressively from behind from the second quarter on.
Meagan Woodall led all scorers with 20 points. Lizzi Needham went 4-for-5 from outside the arc and had 15 points of her own. Cailee Jones also got into double figures with 12 points on one of her best shooting displays of the season.
The Eagles needed a win and were able to grab it on Friday over the Wister junior varsity team. [This game was scheduled late and the Wister girls’ team had an opening in the schedule, while the boys’ team did not. A JV game was arranged.] After Wednesday night’s loss to the Texas Torah Institute, the Eagles were in a bit of disarray. They showed more teamwork in this win and played with a higher level on intensity. It was a back and forth affair though as the Eagles couldn’t seem to put the JVers away until the very end.
They did, however, keep a season long trend alive and 50 does seem to be the magic number. VLA is 6-1 on the year when the Eagles score 50+ points; they are 0-9 when don’t reach the 50-point mark.
Trey Weatherly has stepped up his offensive game as the season has gone on (much like last year) and led all scorers with 17 points. Dayton Booth has 11 more for Victory Life.
After playing so many games on the road or at neutral sites this season, Victory goes back home for a four-game stand starting Tuesday night, when the teams play host to McAlester Christian Academy.

Friday’s box scores:

Girls
VLA (7-8) 9 16 16 17 58
WHS (?-?) 9 12 12 18 51

VLA > Meagan Woodall 20, Lizzi Needham 15, Cailee Jones 12, Cassadi Jones 5, Jessi Balentine 3, Olivia Rustin 3.
WHS > Jill White 16, Ashley Hudlow 7, Kelsey Crane 6, Mary Martin 6, Melanie Carpenter 4, Brittany Murray 4, DelDeana Billinger 2, Kathleen Morgan 2, Tori Wadley 2, Aston Ward 2.

VLA > Lizzi Needham – 4 three-pointers tonight. Also note that this is her final game with us as she will be homeschooled from this point on. We will miss her.

Boys
VLA (6-10) 8 14 14 17 53
WJV 9 12 18 9 48

VLA > Trey Weatherly 17, Dayton Booth 11, Cameron Roesler 8, Tyler McKinney 7, Andrew Cacho 5, Tony Ramos 3, Jon Penton 2.
WJV > Cody Laman 14, Scoute Warren 9, Logan Warren 7, Kolter Borden 6, Dayton Brown 2, Clint Crane 2, Cory Hill 2, Curtis Martin 2, Dej Mathis 2, Josh Wolf 2.

EOSC Tournament - Day One

Lady Eagles' Game 6

The Lady Eagles picked up where they left off on Saturday and grabbed their fifth win of the season, defeating Wister 50-43 in the first round of the Eastern Oklahoma State College Open Tournament. Now 5-1, VLA will face top seed Eagletown on Friday at 4 pm.
Sophomore Olivia Rustin played through injury (She hurt her ankle last week in the Rock Creek Tournament) but led all scorers with 14 points.
Cailee Jones and Meagan Woodall each added 12 points to help the Lady Eagles.
Most of Victory Life’s players were fighting sickness and it was a struggle to keep going on the court. Jessi Balentine had 4 points and controlled the game well from the point guard position, though feeling the effects of the virus. Lizzi Needham also had only 4 points on the evening, but pulled down 11 boards as well.
VLA struggles were most apparent when at the free throw line. The Lady Eagles went 10-24 from the stripe, a place that is supposed to be one of their strengths.

Eagles' Game 6

The Eagles found themselves in a hole before the game even started. With a rotation that generally consists of eight players, Victory Life was missing Jon Penton, who was still out due to a sprained ankle from the Rock Creek Tournament, and Cody Furrh, who was out with illness. But the boys fought very hard on Thursday night. And though they lost 57-48 to Wister, it was truly a valiant effort.
VLA is now 3-3 and will meet the loser of the Eagletown/Spiro contest on Friday at 12:20.
Tyler McKinney had 4 three-pointers on his way to 21 points and led all scorers. Cameron Roesler also put in 18 points for Victory.
What shouldn’t be lost in the Eagles’ defeat was how well they executed the defensive game plan. VLA held the Wildcats to only 24 points in the first half and kept Wister’s Chris Gandee to just two before the break.
But the loss of senior speedster Trey Weatherly early in the first period to an ankle injury became tougher as the game went on and Wister responded by coming out with a 17-8 third quarter, putting the Eagles in an 11 point hole that they could not overcome.
Adding another injury to the insult (pardon the bad play on words), Dayton Booth also turned his ankle in the fourth period.
The Eagles are hoping to heal up quickly as they face another tough opponent on Friday.

Thursday’s box scores:

Girls
VLA (5-1) 16 12 14 8 50
WHS 12 8 16 7 43

VLA > Olivia Rustin 14, Cailee Jones 12, Meagan Woodall 12, Jessi Balentine 4, Lizzi Needham 4, Cassadi Jones 2, Brittany Renfro 2.
WHS > Melannie Carpenter 10, Jill White 9, Kelsey Crane 7, Mary Martin 6, Brittany Murry 6, Shelbie Billy 5, DelDeana Billinger 2.

Boys
VLA (3-3) 9 13 8 18 48
WHS (5-3) 12 12 17 16 57

VLA > Tyler McKinney 21, Cameron Roesler 18, Andrew Cacho 3, Tony Ramos 3, Trey Weatherly 2, Dayton Booth 1.
WHS > Chris Gandee 20, Tyler Shoup 11, Jake White 10, Craig Morgan 6, Ben Shipman 4, Rusty Meeks 2, Cory Hill 2, Kolten Braden 2.