Waynesburg grinds out 44-25 win over Frazier to win Carmichaels tournament
CARMICHAELS ëƵ 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.
ëƵWinning a championship is always good, especially since we lost (in the final) last year,ëƵ Sarra said. ëƵWe 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.ëƵ
Tournament MVP Jules Fowler scored a game-high 17 points and Nina Sarra added 11 for Waynesburg (4-4), but it was the Lady RaidersëƵ 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.
WaynesburgëƵs full-court pressure forced a slew of turnovers and kept Frazier from getting into any continuity on offense.
ëƵWe have to play to our strengths,ëƵ coach Sarra said. ëƵWeëƵre small but weëƵre quick so weëƵve got to take advantage of that. We have a lot of people that can defend on the ball and put pressure on the ball.ëƵ
Sarra was pleased with FowlerëƵs sparkling performance.
ëƵShe had a good game,ëƵ he said. ëƵShe came off the bench today, hit a couple shots, sparked us, had some good steals. She played well. We expect that from her. SheëƵs one of our senior leaders.
ëƵWe had a lot of people who contributed. They played hard.ëƵ
Frazier could muster little offense behind Twigg. The Lady CommodoresëƵ 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.
ëƵIt was a big confidence booster,ëƵ Shaulis said. ëƵAll we look for and ask for is that weëƵre 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.ëƵ
Joining Fowler on the all-tournament team were teammate Miller, CarmichaelsëƵ Kylie Sinn and Sophia Zalar, FrazierëƵs Twigg and Kaelyn Shaporka, and Propel MontourëƵs Kahrjah Washington.



