OCC title on line as West Holmes squares off against Wooster
When West Holmes comes to Wooster Thursday evening (Feb. 2), a preseason goal for both teams – an Ohio Cardinal Conference championship – will be on the line. Both teams are 10-1 in league play, so the winner will emerge with outright possession of first place in the waning days of the race. Wooster gained the early upper hand in the OCC when it defeated West Holmes 46-45 on Dec. 29, but Lexington brought Wooster back to the Lady Knights when Lexington posted a 54-49 victory over the Generals Jan. 21.
“We’ve got some tough games left, but at this point we’ve got (West Holmes) coming Thursday to our place,” said Wooster coach Mike Baus. “It will be a great atmosphere and an exciting game to play.”
Wooster won a nail-biter against West Holmes the first time, rallying in the fourth quarter and then getting a free throw from senior Lauren Walker to provide the difference. The Generals will face a West Holmes team that has won eight of its last nine games, with the only loss a 4-point setback, 47-43, to defending State champion Hathaway Brown, to improve to 14-2. It is a team that is at the top of its game, Baus noted.
“West Holmes is playing really well right now. They’re starting to shoot the ball well,” said Baus. “It will be a challenge for us to defend (the outside shot). They made 14 threes against Orrville two games ago (a 69-55 victory) and made 11 threes against Clear Fork last game (a 52-19 victory). They’re obviously shooting well with 25 threes in two games – that will present some challenges for us. We’ve gotta find the shooters and contain them. It will be a fun challenge and we’re up to it. Our girls feel we’re excited to play. It’s at our home court and we’ll be ready.”
Wooster is down to five games in the regular season before tournaments and a return to Canton for the Division I Sectional/District tournament.
“We have five games left and the postseason,” said Baus. “We have five tough games – there are no easy teams and, besides ourselves, three games are against the top teams (in the OCC) against Orrville, West Holmes and Ashland. New Philadelphia and Perry are non-conference games and they are both in our district. We have a tough schedule down the stretch.
“We played Massillon Saturday (Jan. 28) and won 61-58 – that was a good game for us. They are also in our tournament and they were 10-3 coming in. We played two quarters of our best ball of the year. It was encouraging to put in a couple quarters and click on all cylinders.”
That was good to see after the loss to Lexington.
“We didn’t show up and compete,” said Baus. “We had nobody hit an outside shot and we had quite a few turnovers, which was uncharacteristic for us. We were not ready as a team, didn’t get off on the right foot and it went downhill from there.
“We have had some intense practices and tweaked a few things,” he added. “We shook the lineup up… we’re bringing Claire (Ballard) off the bench and starting Brittany Nicholson. Brittany shoots well against zones and Claire gives us some firepower coming off the bench.
“Lexington was a tough one. Lex played well and we didn’t show up, so I’m hoping that helps make us a better team as we head into our last five games.”
Game-time Thursday, Feb. 2 is 7:30 p.m.
Published: January 31, 2012
