Lady Pirates are WAC runners-up

VERNON — The Winfield Lady Pirates lost the WAC tournament final to the Sulligent Lady Blue Devils 35-33 on Monday night, Dec. 23.
Winfield’s boys’ basketball team started the WAC tournament with a 61-54 loss to Sulligent on  Dec. 21.
The Pirates and Blue Devils were neck-and-neck for the first half. The Pirates led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter, but the score was tied 30-30 at halftime.
The Blue Devils outscored the Pirates 16-9 in the third quarter, and both teams scored 15 points each in the fourth quarter to give the Blue Devils the victory.
Slate Gilbert led the Pirates in scoring with 24 points, followed by Sean Wyers with 21 points, Garret Beasley with 5 points, and Jack Cook and Jacob Chism with 2 points each.
The loss knocked the boys out of the tournament, but the girls saw success in their first tournament game with a 52-43 victory over the South Lamar Lady Stallions on Dec. 21.
The Lady Pirates took a 16-10 lead in the first quarter but were trailing 20-18 at halftime. The Lady Pirates left the locker room with a vengeance and scored 23 points in the third quarter to South Lamar’s 7.
The Lady Pirates scored 11 more points in the fourth quarter and held the Lady Stallions to only 16 more points to secure their spot in the final round.
Kylah May scored 17 points in that game, followed by Julie Anderson with 12, Kennah Beth Lacy with 10, Jayci Griffin with 8, Milleigh Miles and Molly Kate Elkins with 2 each and finally Madi Grace Lewis with 1 point.
The Lady Pirates faced the Sulligent Lady Blue Devils in the final round on Dec. 23.
The Lady Pirates once again took the lead in the first quarter at 12-9 and held a narrow 14-13 lead at halftime.
Winfield held a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter at 29-27, but the Lady Blue Devils were able to tie the game at 33-33 with 28 seconds left in the game.
A 2-point shot from Sulligent with 2.4 seconds remaining sealed the deal for the Lady Blue Devils, who won the game 35-33.
Lacy scored 15 points, along with 14 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks. May scored 10 points and made 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Griffin scored 6 points and grabbed 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. Anderson scored 2 points.
The week before, the Pirates played the Haleyville Lions on Dec. 19.
The Lady Pirates won their game 60-35, and the boys won 66-48.
The Lady Pirates took a strong 23-12 lead in the first quarter and held the lead through the end.
Lacy scored 18 points, Anderson scored 15, May scored 12, Molly Kate Elkins scored 9, Griffin scored 3, Kaleigh Barnett scored 2 and Lewis scored 1.
In the boys’ game, the Pirates were down 19-17 at the end of the first quarter but turned the tide in the second quarter and took a 35-28 lead.
The Pirates dug in the second half, scoring 31 more points to the Lions’ 20, winning 66-48.
Gilbert scored 25 points, followed by Wyers with 22, Miles Miles with 10, Chism with 7 and Beasley and Keylan Hughes with 1 each.