Wilson Hall girls basketball team shows marked improvement with 16-10 record
Barons' Ford Wilder selected as SCISA Region 3-AAAA Boys Player of the Year
Sumter – The Wilson Hall girls basketball came into the just completed season feeling it had a point to prove, if not to others, to itself.
“Last year our season record was 9-17,” said veteran Lady Barons head coach Glen Rector. “The girls were determined to improve on ball handling and shooting. Their hard work paid of as we improved to 16-10 this season.”
Along with that, the Lady Barons finished second in SCISA Region 3-AAAA ii the regular season and made it to the region tournament championship game as well. They earned a No. 3 seed in their half of the bracket in the AAAA state tournament. Unfortunately, WH was upset by No. 6 seed Northside Christian Academy 49-45 in overtime in the first round.
Wilson Hall had four players selected to the All-Region team in junior Caroline Moorman, sophomores Grace McArthur and Lilly Grace Przybyla and freshman Emmie Williamson.
Przybyla led in scoring with a 13.4=points-per-game average and rebounding at 7.9. McArthur averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds, Williamson led the team in steals at 3.5 and assists at 2.6 while averaging 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds, and Moorman averaged 5.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
Along with sophomore Ellis Coker, the Lady Barons have their entire starting five returning. Coker averaged 5.7 points, 2.0 steals and 3.5 rebounds.
“We are also excited about the future as we started one junior, three sophomores and one freshman,” Rector said.
The lone senior on the team was Ella Still. She averaged 3.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
FORD WILDER BOYS REGION POY
The Barons’ Ford Wilder was selected as the Region 3 Player of the Year. The senior averaged 20.2 points and 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.9 assists.
“Ford did a tremendous job on the court for us this year, and he and (fellow senior) Bryce Hanson were great leaders. They are leaving some big shoes to fill.”
Junior Caulder Williamson was also named All-Region. He averaged 8.9 points and 1.7 steals along with a team high in assists at 3.8.
The Barons went 15-16 on the season. Considering the inexperience on the roster, Ripley had no qualms with the final result.
“I was really proud of our growth throughout the year,” Ripley said. “We lost five of our top six from last year and had a lot of guys having to step up.”
Other key performers were junior Eric Brown, sophomore Nolan Gooch, sophomore Nehemiah Dinkins and junior Johnny Lauzon. Brown averaged 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, Gooch averaged 6.3 points, 2.0 assists and 3.4 boards, Dinkins averaged 7.6 points, and Lauzon averaged 6.6 points and 2.1 assists.
