WHS girls nip Rebels, reach title game
Ed Cottingham
Weddington senior center Olivia Jenkins had four points and six rebounds in the win over Parkwood.
Weddington's girls held off Parkwood's fourth-quarter rally in a 58-56 win that puts the Warriors in tonight's championship game of the Southern Carolina Conference tournament.
The Warriors won their 20th game of the season against just five losses, but had to hang on after taking a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter (43-30) in Thursday's semifinal.
Sophomore guard Stephanie Watts led WHS with 18 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Watts needs just four points to reach 1,000 for her career.
Parkwood opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run, but Watts responded with back-to-back 3-pointers.
Parkwood senior guard Maggie Smith answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead back to six, but WHS made 7-of-8 free throws in the final three minutes to pull out the win.
Freshman guard Jada Craig contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five steals for WHS, and senior guard Kelsie Croal added 11 points.
Weddington, seeded second, faces regular-season champion Porter Ridge in the tourney title game tonight at 6 p.m. at Sun Valley High.
Parkwood, now 16-8, got a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds from junior forward Emry Tsitouris. Smith scored 11 on the strength of three 3-pointers and freshman center Brittany Autry had 11 points and eight boards.
Area conference tournaments
Rocky River Conference
(at Monroe High)
Monday’s results
Girls first round
No. 5 Piedmont 60, No. 4 North Stanly 46
No. 3 Forest Hills 45, No. 6 Central Academy 42
No. 1 Monroe 60, No. 8 Union Academy 17
No. 2 Cuthbertson 47, No. 7 West Stanly 46
Tuesday’s results
Boys first round
No. 4 Forest Hills 63, No. 5 West Stanly 62
No. 3 Monroe 69, No. 6 Central Academy 40
No. 1 Cuthbertson 98, No. 8 Union Academy 33
No. 2 Piedmont 76, No. 7 North Stanly 61
Wednesday
Girls semifinals
Monroe 72, Piedmont 59
Forest Hills 41, Cuthbertson 38
Thursday
Boys semifinals
No. 1 Cuthbertson 87, No. 4 Forest Hills 48
No. 3 Monroe 71, No. 2 Piedmont 61
Friday
Girls championship
Forest Hills at Monroe, 6 p.m.
Boys championship
No. 1 Cuthbertson vs. No. 3 Monroe, 7:30 p.m.
Southern Carolina Conference
Monday’s results
First round (at higher seed)
Girls
No. 3 Parkwood 72, No. 6 Sun Valley 34
No. 4 Anson County 55, No. 5 Marvin Ridge 41
Boys
No. 3 Weddington 50, No. 6 Parkwood 47
No. 4 Anson County 83, No. 5 Porter Ridge 81
Wednesday
Semifinals (at Sun Valley High)
No. 1 Porter Ridge girls 67, Anson 31
No. 4 Anson boys 75, No. 1 Marvin Ridge 71
Thursday
Semifinals (at Sun Valley)
No. 2 Weddington girls 58, No. 3 Parkwood 56
No. 2 Sun Valley boys 33, No. 2 WHS 30
Friday
Girls championship
Porter Ridge vs. Weddington, 6 p.m.
Boys championship
Anson County vs. Sun Valley, 7:30 p.m.