Wylie freshman Sade Mathes, pictured in previous action, scored 13 points in a 56-28 win over Rowlett on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Photo by Elijah Kloepping / C&S Media
By David Wolman
ROWLETT – During his halftime speech, Wylie head girls basketball coach Nate Heckelman stressed the importance of the next three minutes.
The first-year Lady Pirates head coach felt that it could be the difference in helping Wylie to pull away from District 9-6A rival Rowlett.
On cue, the Lady Pirates followed through on their coach’s words. Wylie attacked the basket with relative ease over the first 3:05 of the second half as part of an 11-0 scoring run, and that was the separation that the Lady Pirates needed to earn a 56-28 victory on Tuesday.
“What I stressed to them at halftime was that we needed to be more patient on offense, work the ball from one side to another,” Heckelman said. “We got into some easy baskets and layups from there, and then we picked up our pressure a little bit and got a few more easy baskets, which helped us extend the lead.”
A patient and disciplined offensive attack helped fuel the extended scoring run.
Senior Shamya Johnson jump-started the run with two made free throws 29 seconds in after she was fouled on a jumper.
Freshman Sade Mathes and junior Ronelyse Hartfield followed Johnson’s lead. Hartfield had a three-point play that bumped Wylie’s lead to 31-17. Less than a minute later, Johnson delivered an on-target pass to Mathes, who was cutting to the basket and then made a layup for a 33-17 Lady Pirates lead.
Hartfield’s grit and physical play played a key role in Wylie forcing 27 Rowlett turnovers on the evening and outscoring the Lady Eagles 34-11 in the second half after the Lady Pirates clung to a 22-17 halftime lead.
Hartfield scored 14 of her 18 points over the final two quarters of play, two of which came on a play in which she ripped the ball out of the hands of a Rowlett guard near center court and converted it into a layup just seconds later. Mathes netted 13 points, while Johnson had 18 points in the blowout victory.
That domination came after Wylie struggled with offensive execution in the first half.
Although the Lady Pirates never trailed and their defense consistently forced the Lady Eagles into rushed shots and turnovers, Wylie’s offense was also apt to give the ball away.
Fourteen first-half turnovers nearly caught up to Wylie late in the second quarter.
After the Lady Pirates took a 22-10 lead on a Hartfield layup, the Lady Eagles finished the half on a 7-0 run. A steal led to a layup by sophomore Zariyah Straw, and less than a minute later, sophomore Nneoma Okorocha brought Rowlett to within 22-17 with a putback.
“We didn’t take care of the ball very well in the first half, but we kept battling on the defensive end,” Heckelman said. “We weren’t giving up easy shots, easy looks. We made Rowlett earn their baskets.”
A huge reason why Wylie was able to remain in the lead was because of Johnson’s shotmaking. The junior point guard carried the offensive load with nine points in the first quarter. She began the scoring with a 3-pointer before capping off a dominant stretch of play with a made field goal with 1:10 left for a 15-4 Lady Pirates lead.
“It’s great to have a point guard like Shamya,” Heckelman said. “She doesn’t look like she shows a lot of emotion out there, but she is always playing hard, always wants to improve. Whether it’s her scoring or her teammates, she’s always happy.”
Because of the fast start, Wylie (11-4 overall, 5-0 District 9-6A) remains in sole possession of first place in District 9-6A.
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