Business as usual: Waynesburg’s defense adjusts, stops McGuffey
CLAYSVILLE – If you did even the slightest bit of homework on the Waynesburg and McGuffey girls basketball matchup Monday night, then you probably had a decent idea of what the game was going to be.
Neither team scores a lot of points. Neither team gives up a lot of points.
For the overall outcome of the game, you probably would have given the edge to Waynesburg. The Raiders are second in WPIAL Class 3A Section 2 behind South Park, and although the Highlanders were just one game back of Waynesburg in third place, they were reeling from two straight losses – including a 59-19 game against South Park this past Saturday afternoon.
Now, of course, basketball games don’t always go the way they’re supposed to.
But this one did.
Waynesburg rode its defense as usual, along with the scoring of Clara Paige Miller, also as usual, to grind out a 46-43 win in Claysville.
For Waynesburg, 22 of those 46 points came from Miller, and freshman Kaley Rohanna added 13.
The Raiders’ defense – which came in allowing less than 40 points a night – was key in the first half, holding McGuffey (4-3, 4-4) to 16 points for a five-point lead.
The Highlanders battled back in the second 16 minutes, however, and had a four-point lead in the third quarter before entering the final period tied at 35-35.
Then, the Raiders (6-1, 8-2) adjusted defensively.
“My assistant coach recommended (we switch to) man-to-man, and when we went man-to-man, that kind of took them out of their rhythm offensively,” Waynesburg coach Dave Sarra said. “We were able to get some buckets and score, and get ahead of the game.”
Highlanders coach Morgan Spaulding was encouraged with her team’s performance overall, and felt that, going forward, McGuffey will do a better job of adjusting to Waynesburg’s style of defense when the teams meet in Greene County Feb. 16.
“They play a really tough man, so whenever they switched to the man, we were able to kind of figure out some adjustments that way,” Spaulding said. “We’re going to be making some adjustments on our press as well, because they could break it pretty easily. So we want to just make sure that we can try to stop it next time.”
Sarra knew that McGuffey gave his squad all it could handle.
“They really hustled, and they got after loose balls and rebounds,” he said. “They’re a tough team.”
Claire Redd was the only Highlander in double figures with 11 points.
After McGuffey won the third quarter, 19-14, the Raiders took back control in the final eight minutes, outscoring McGuffey 11-8.
Waynesburg took some punches when the bell sounded to start the second half, but ultimately, outpointed its opponent.
The Raiders have won three in a row, and for Sarra, the squad appears to be getting into a rhythm.
“We’re starting to become a little more experienced team,” he said. “You know, sometimes, when a team goes on a run, you either respond to it, or you give a lack of effort so to speak. But basketball is a game of runs. They’ll get their runs. We have to come back and get our runs.”
Although the Highlanders are now losers of three straight, Spaulding is confident brighter days are ahead. McGuffey hopes the recovery will begin Thursday when the Highlanders face Washington on the road.
“They showed a lot of heart tonight, and I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Spaulding said. “They definitely played with heart, and as long as we keep playing with that heart, then I think our team (will) bounce back pretty fast.”
With COVID-19 still controlling much of everyday life, Sarra is well aware that, like last year, this basketball season could come crashing down any second. The Raiders have five regular season games left, starting Thursday in Rogersville against West Greene.
Although Sarra obviously wants to win all five and, in a perfect world, win every playoff game through the state tournament, he’ll appreciate any time the team has together on the court.
“With what’s going on in our country right now, this could be the last game,” Sarra said. “The next practice could be the last practice. So we have to take it one game at a time, focus on that, and hope we can continue playing.”