WAYNESBORO – The “tale of two halves” storyline has become cliché. Still, if you attended or saw Friday night’s varsity girls’ basketball game between Waynesboro and West Perry, you would be hard-pressed to find a better one.
The Maidens, who entered their Mid-Penn Colonial Division game riding a five-game win streak, trailed 7-0 after the first quarter. They managed to score eight points in the second period and were once again fortunate that West Perry didn’t get into the scoring groove as they led 15-8 at halftime.
Something clicked in the second half. Waynesboro began to press off the inbounds pass and trap the ball handler on the perimeter. It was enough to stymie the Mustangs’ offense and allow the Maidens to find their scoring touch. They didn’t find it at the foul line but did find it in Breanna McIlquham. McIlquham scored a game-high 22 points to lead Waynesboro to a 36-28 victory that brought as much relief as exuberance.
“That was the first time we pressed,” said Waynesboro coach Tyler Stoner. “It’s something we’ve been working on for the last three weeks. We have the athletes to do it so long as we don’t get in foul trouble. We’ve played in some very physical games. We’re conditioned to play to the whistle.”
In the first quarter, Waynesboro missed five shots, committed four turnovers, and was lucky to be behind by only seven points. That’s because the Mustangs missed five shots and turned the ball over three times before they got on the board on a close-range shot by Taylor Lupfer. Madelyn Weibley followed with another bucket, and Lupfer ended the opening stanza with her second made shot.
That left Waynesboro desperately searching for a solution to their offensive woes.
“We needed to find a way to get our offense going,” said Stoner, whose team is now 9-5 and plays at Northern York on Tuesday in a big game for both teams, especially the Maidens. “We came out in the second half in a zone press. We found a groove and got a couple of threes. Bre (McIlquham) got us going.”
McIlquham sank a three-pointer that reduced a 10-2 deficit to 10-5. Weibley responded with a three-pointer of her own to get the eight-point lead back and keep the pressure on the Maidens who were trying to keep the Mustangs from putting the game out of reach early.
Waynesboro’s Nikki Davis, who was blanketed by West Perry’s defense whenever she touched the ball, got free for a three to account for the rest of the team’s scoring in the first half. Davis finished the game with nine points, 10 rebounds, and four steals.
The Maidens used the halftime intermission for some serious chalk talk, and it paid off.
The defensive pressure up and down the court helped cause numerous missed shots and turnovers and gave Waynesboro some opportunities to put together a run. McIlquham was up to the task. She made back-to-back two-point shots and was on the receiving end of a nice pass from Davis, who watched McIlquham tie the game with a three-pointer at 15-15 just 1:42 into the third quarter.
McIlquham followed up a missed shot with the go-ahead basket and then made one of two free throws to make it 18-15.
West Perry made it 19-18 with a bucket by Austynn Wolf. Waynesboro continued to press and trap. The onus was on the offense to put some distance between the teams and give the Maidens some breathing room, something they hadn’t been able to do so far.
Addie Shaull’s two free throws started an 8-0 run that gave Waynesboro a 27-18 lead. But the lead was short-lived, as the Mustangs took advantage of missed shots and turnovers to cut the margin to 27-25 and 29-28 with 4:50 to play in the game.
Despite a scoring drought that spanned three minutes and 25 seconds, the Maidens still led 29-28 and were attempting to play keep-away. McIlquham got inside for a clutch basket, and after West Perry proceeded to commit five fouls that brought Waynesboro to the free throw line, McIlquham made both of them to give Waynesboro a 34-28 lead with less than 20 seconds remaining in the contest.
