SHERIDAN – After nearly a month without a home game, the Sheridan girls basketball team welcomed its fans back to Yellowjacket Arena on Friday night with a rivalry win.
The Lady Jackets started strong and never trailed in a 57-40 win against White Hall which snapped a three-game conference losing skid.
Senior Belle Smith led the Lady Jackets (8-11, 3-3 in 5A-South) with 21 points, with senior Lilly Reid adding 14 in what was Sheridan’s first home game since Dec. 19.
The Lady Jackets combined for eight made three-pointers, with Smith and Reid making three apiece. Reid also drew a three-shot foul and made all three free throws.
Sheridan coach Andy Brakebill said the Lady Jackets shot better than they have been in recent games.
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“Our girls are capable of shooting several shots on any given night,” Brakebill said. “We just hadn’t been doing it. Now, part of that is other teams. We hadn’t got great looks, but there was times we moved the ball really well tonight. We were spraying it and getting to shooters. Fortunately, tonight, we hit several of them.”
Neither team scored until two minutes into the game when Smith began a parade of three-pointers. She made two, with Reid adding another. Junior Paige White then made one to get the Lady Bulldogs (9-6, 4-2) on the board, cutting the Sheridan advantage to 9-3.
Sheridan went on to lead 15-3, forcing White Hall to take a timeout with 2:21 remaining in the first quarter. Sheridan freshman Ainsley Stevens, senior Mason Williams and junior Kinley Melton contributed points to the hot start.
Smith said the 15-3 run felt amazing.
“We all just kept pushing each other, honestly, just giving each other high fives,” Smith said. “I think that’s what really kept us upbeat.”
White got the Lady Bulldogs going again after the timeout. A shot from her and two from senior Blair Weston helped White Hall cut Sheridan’s lead to 17-9 by the end of the first quarter.
Melton opened the second quarter with Sheridan’s fourth three-pointer of the game, and the Lady Jackets led by as much as 23-11 early in the quarter. White Hall again stopped the bleeding, and the quarter finished even with Sheridan taking a 27-19 lead into halftime.
Smith and Reid each hit three-pointers as part of an 8-0 run to begin the second quarter. White Hall battled back to cut the deficit to 35-24 but never got it to single digits again. Sheridan outscored the Lady Bulldogs 14-11 in the third quarter and 16-10 in the fourth.
Brakebill said Sheridan’s biggest issue recently has been confidence, but beating a team which entered the night 4-1 in conference play should help build more confidence going forward.
“We just gotta keep it going,” Brakebill said. “We talk about it all the time with our girls. Sometimes, our biggest enemy is ourselves with silly mistakes. You got two freshmen out there playing, so we’re trying to continue to put it together throughout the year, but they’re getting better and better.”
Senior Blair Weston led the Lady Bulldogs with 14 points, with senior Jelayla Stith adding 11.
BOYS: Sheridan 79, White Hall 55
The Sheridan boys dominated the second half after both teams started the game hot in front of a lively crowd.
Sheridan (17-4, 6-0) led 47-36 at halftime, with senior center Lane Bickford scoring six points in the final 2:25 of the second quarter. The Bulldogs had led early and kept it close, but Sheridan put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring White Hall 17-5.
Senior Bobby Foster and junior Tristen Dunlap scored the Bulldogs’ only points of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was a more respectable 15-14 in Sheridan’s favor, but the damage was done.
Sheridan sophomore Jace Gatlin scored a game-high 23 points. Bickford and junior Dawson Griffin scored 13 each, with sophomore Beckett Scott adding 10.
Foster led White Hall (3-13, 1-5) with 17 points after making five three-pointers. Korey Hope, a junior, added 16.
Dunlap scored the game’s first points to give White Hall an early 2-0 lead, but Sheridan scored the next six. White Hall tied the game at 14 later in the first quarter, but Sheridan finished the quarter on a 6-0 run.
White Hall tied the game again early in the second quarter thanks to a 6-point possession. Hope hit a three-pointer while Sheridan was called for a foul away from the shot, giving the Bulldogs the ball back.
Foster nailed a three-pointer on the possession to tie the game at 20 and force a Sheridan timeout 37 seconds into the second quarter. The Yellowjackets scored the next six points and led the rest of the night.
The win keeps Sheridan tied with Benton for first place in the 5A-South Conference ahead of their meeting on Tuesday in Saline County.
