Whisman's 25 pts, 10 rebs lead West to 48-37 win over 'Peake
· Yahoo Sports
WAVERLY — Having players who understand how to play positionless basketball is truly invaluable in today's modern game.
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It's clear that West junior Macey Whisman is grasping the concept of that term quite well.
Whisman put together an outstanding All-Ohio caliber performance in a OHSAA Division V District Semifinal contest against the Chesapeake Panthers' girls basketball program, as the 6-0 junior had the full arsenal working Saturday afternoon at the Downtown Arena in Waverly.
Whisman ultimately posted 25 points and 10 rebounds for a masterful double-double performance, scoring all 25 of her tallies in the final three quarters of action to lead West past Chesapeake, 48-37, in a OHSAA Division V District Semifinal contest that was held at the Downtown Arena in Waverly.
Along with Whisman's performance, a strong defensive effort helped guide West to the 11-point triumph.
The Lady Senators held Chesapeake to just four points in the opening quarter and 14 tallies in the opening half.
The 14 points that West allowed over the opening 16 minutes of play would've been less — had Chesapeake senior Abby Issacs not banked in a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer.
The Lady Panthers tallied just five field goals in the first half, and outside of Issacs' 25 points, Chesapeake didn't have a single player score more than seven over the entirety of the contest.
"Defense is what we hang our hat on," West head coach Doran Martin said. "We're long and we're athletic. I let our players know early in the season that defense travels. Sometimes, offense is hard to come by. If you play tough defense and rebound, however, you're always going to have a shot."
Aiding West in its winning cause was Whisman's elite play.
The multi-dimensional talent got going with an and-one finish at the 5:39 mark of the second quarter for West's first basket of the frame, and proceeded to score each of the Lady Senators' 11 points in the second quarter en route to a giving West a 19-14 lead at the halftime break.
Whisman closed out the contest by scoring 14 of the Lady Senators' final 22 points as well, helping West take a 36-24 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Lady Senators never led by less than seven points the rest of the way.
"The one thing that I told Macey at the beginning of the season was that I needed her to develop a low post game," Martin said. "Macey can handle the ball. She can shoot the ball. She has perimeter skills. However, when you have a presence like Macey, you can play her in the low post with her size, and when you're playing against other teams that aren't very big, you can really develop someone's game that way. Macey's still learning. She has days that are good and days that aren't so good, but I told her the other day, 'You're a basketball player. Get those transition trails. Hit a three. Step out on the perimeter and drive.' I thought she mixed all of those things very well (on Saturday)."
West's guard play around Whisman was also steady.
Sophomore guard Brayleigh Pistole scored six of West's first eight points in the contest and grabbed five rebounds in the opening half en route to a 13-point, seven-rebound performance. Junior guard Hailey Carver scored each of the Lady Senators' first four points in the third quarter en route to nabbing eight points herself in the game.
Then, the play of Ally Buckner, Kayla Throckmorton and Lauryn Trinidad also proved to be steady. Buckner, in particular, played well in several areas, taking a defensive charge, nabbing a block and posting two assists inside to Whisman all in the first half of play.
"Brayleigh had a really good game (on Wednesday) where she had 24," Martin said. "I told our girls the other day that in the tournament, you have to have somebody come alive. When we play a team like Fairland, we need two or three to come alive. (Ally) Buckner and (Kayla) Throckmorton know what their roles are — hitting set threes and open shots when they're available — but I thought they did a really good job of working the ball in the paint and trying to get Macey the ball. We moved the ball really well and that allowed (Hailey) Carver and (Brayleigh) Pistole to come off of screens."
With the win, West (15-9) advances to a OHSAA Division V District Championship, where the Lady Senators will face Fairland (20-4) in a 2:30 p.m. matchup that will be held at the Downtown Arena in Waverly.
"Jon does a great job at Fairland," Martin said. "We know what they're going to do — they're going to press you and give you consistent pressure for 32 minutes. I thought that we did an okay job with the press when we were organized. That's going to be a lot of the focus — being organized. If we are, I think we have a shot to break the press and get some layups out of it like we did (on Saturday). We're going to have our hands full, but hopefully, we can give them a good out."