Waynesburg grinds out 44-25 win over Frazier to win Carmichaels tournament
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地/
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地/
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Nina Sarra heads toward the basket after coming up with a steal against Frazier during the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game on Saturday. Sarra scored 11 points in the Lady Raiders鈥� 44-25 victory.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Jules Fowler puts up a jump shot against Frazier during the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game on Saturday. Fowler scored a game-high 17 points in the Lady Raiders鈥� 44-25 win and was named tournament MVP.
Waynesburg Central players pose with 2019 Coal Queen Lizzie Dulla while displaying the first-place trophy after defeating Frazier, 44-25, in the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game on Saturday. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地/
Frazier鈥檚 Kaelyn Shaporka dribbles up court as Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Brenna Benke defends during the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game on Saturday.
Waynesburg Central's Jules Fowler displays the plaque she was awarded for being selected as Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls MVP while standing next to 2019 Coal Queen Lizzie Dulla on Saturday.
Members of the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament all-tournament team pose with 2019 Coal Queen Lizzie Dulla on Saturday. Pictured are (from left) Sophia Zalar of Carmichaels, Kaelyn Shaporka and Sierra Twigg of Frazier, tournament MVP Jules Fowler of Waynesburg Central, Dulla, Clara Paige Miller of Waynesburg Central and Kylie Sinn of Carmichaels. Propel Montour's Kahrjah Washington also was a member of the team.
Waynesburg Central coach Dave Sarra breaks a huddle with his players after a timeout during the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game against Frazier on Dec. 28, 2019. The Lady Raiders won the tournament. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Waynesburg Central's Nina Sarra hits a 3-pointer against Frazier聽during the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game on Saturday. Sarra scored 11 points in the Lady Raiders' 44-2 victory.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Jules Fowler goes to the floor to try and save the ball from going out of bounds against Frazier during the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game on Saturday.
Waynesburg Central's Jules Fowler throw a pass after going to the floor to try to recover a loose ball against Frazier聽during the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament girls championship game on Saturday.
CARMICHAELS 鈥� Dave Sarra was hoping to use the Carmichaels Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament as a means of getting his Waynesburg Central team ready for upcoming section play.
That his Lady Raiders wound up winning the girls championship game against Frazier, 44-25, on Saturday was a bonus he gladly accepted.
鈥淲inning a championship is always good, especially since we lost (in the final) last year,鈥� Sarra said. 鈥淲e obviously entered the tournament to win, but our focus each and every day is to get better and get ready for section play. I thought this tournament helped us to do that.鈥�
Tournament MVP Jules Fowler scored a game-high 17 points and Nina Sarra added 11 for Waynesburg (4-4), but it was the Lady Raiders鈥� smothering defense that keyed the win.
The Lady Commodores (2-7) took an early 5-2 lead thanks to three points from Sierra Twigg and a basket by McKenzie Miller, but Clara Paige Miller scored five of her six points in the opening quarter to help Waynesburg surge in front, 8-5.
Twigg, who led Frazier with 13 points, tallied seven in the second quarter to try to rally her team, but Fowler had six and Sarra added five in the frame as the Lady Raiders extended their lead to 24-15 by halftime.
Waynesburg worked its advantage up to 33-20 after three periods, then widened the gap to 16, 38-22, on a 3-pointer by Sarra with 6:40 left and again, 42-26, on jumper by Fowler with 3:35 remaining. The Lady Raiders successfully worked the clock from there and wound up with a 19-point win.
Waynesburg鈥檚 full-court pressure forced a slew of turnovers and kept Frazier from getting into any continuity on offense.
鈥淲e have to play to our strengths,鈥� coach Sarra said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e small but we鈥檙e quick so we鈥檝e got to take advantage of that. We have a lot of people that can defend on the ball and put pressure on the ball.鈥�
Sarra was pleased with Fowler鈥檚 sparkling performance.
鈥淪he had a good game,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he came off the bench today, hit a couple shots, sparked us, had some good steals. She played well. We expect that from her. She鈥檚 one of our senior leaders.
鈥淲e had a lot of people who contributed. They played hard.鈥�
Frazier could muster little offense behind Twigg. The Lady Commodores鈥� second-leading scorer was Delaney Warnick with four points.
Even so, first-year coach Winston Shaulis was happy to see his team reach the championship game with a win over Propel Montour on Friday.
鈥淚t was a big confidence booster,鈥� Shaulis said. 鈥淎ll we look for and ask for is that we鈥檙e competitive on both offense and defense. All it takes for us is doing the simple things and the fundamental things correctly. We just had a couple miscues that really bit us tonight.鈥�
Joining Fowler on the all-tournament team were teammate Miller, Carmichaels鈥� Kylie Sinn and Sophia Zalar, Frazier鈥檚 Twigg and Kaelyn Shaporka, and Propel Montour鈥檚 Kahrjah Washington.