Wilson scores opening night win

By Corine Gatti

Published: December 1, 2008

FISHERSVILLE — Girls basketball is back and the first game of the season introduced plenty of action at Wilson Memorial High School on Monday night as Waynesboro tipped-off against the Hornets in a packed gym.

But the excitement quickly ended for the Giants as they lost their first non-district bout of the season 50-44.

The Little Giants were solid during the first two quarters by building a 23-14 lead. But that quickly vaporized when Wilson forced turnovers and added 11 unanswered points. Wilson tied it 23-23, but after back-and-forth play, the Giants scrambled and went to the locker room leading by one point 26-27.

Then, after the break, came a new Wilson team. The Green Hornets pressured the Giants and freshman Dinah Jones hit a two-pointer to take the lead. Jones towers at 6-foot and had 14 offensive rebounds on the night.

“I was having a hard time getting my shots in the beginning,” Jones said.

Wilson had only eight points in the first quarter but posted 17 points in the second quarter.

“A lot of the people stepping up now are new on our team,” said Wilson coach Jackie Bryan.  “I told the girls that we need to play defense and get the ball up the court. Offense is not our top way to score. I think a lot of that was first game jitters.”

The Giants (0-1, 0-0 Southern Valley) were only down by one point in the third quarter 35-34, but their turnovers continued and they could not find their rhythm.  Jolie Dudley had three treys on the night, Shanda Brown had one and Latoya Diggs chipped in for three points.

“Wilson Memorial is one of those fundamentally sound teams and you can’t really counteract that with scrappiness on the offensive end,” said Giants coach Secrett Stubblefield. “Tonight it forced a ton of turnovers and I think they connected on most or all of them tonight.”

The Hornets (1-0, 0-0 Shenandoah) will play against Fort Defiance in the Augusta County tip-off tournament at Riverheads on Wednesday at 8 p.m.