Story and Photos By Kendall Patterson
After the first week of district play, the Eaglettes and Eagles sit at the top of the district rankings following victories against both North Side and South Side.
The North Side victory for the Eaglettes was an easy “W’ as they cruised past the Indians with a final score of 70-42.
The win over South Side was critical though.
With South Side being dominant in recent years and being the defending state champs, the win for the Eaglettes was huge for Eaglettes’ confidence and morale.
The Eaglettes were in control most of the first half and entered halftime winning 15-11.
In the second half South Side fought and took the lead. Nonetheless, the Eaglettes were reslient despite trailing by up to nine points with a few minutes remaining and after pressuring South Side and coming up with steals, the Eaglettes did what they needed to do to make it come down to one last shot.
With the score 41-40 with Chester County losing, Eaglette Jariyah Williamson was fouled on a three point shot with three seconds remaining and made two of the three free throws for the win.
Though Eaglettes Head Coach Lee Pipkin believed her team could have played a better game, the victory over South Side was a test they set their minds to pass this season and they were successful.
“I do not think we played our best game and I believe South Side’s defense had a lot to do with it. We haven’t played as physical of a game as that yet. I think it kind of rocked us on the back of our heels to start with and I think that whole South Side mentality, just knowing what kind of program they’ve had, it was almost like we played like we weren’t supposed to hang with them. We had some kids that came in and fought. JuJu Prather come off the bench and played her butt off. Karley Heinsohn came in and did exactly what we needed done. They played fearless, and when you play a team like this you can’t be afraid. You have to play and you have to react. To be down nine points and come back, that was just sheer fighting and just sheer hustle. South Side has a really good team… but I just feel like the girls did what they needed to do in order to win.”
The Eagles had a pair of close games with the two teams they will be fighting against in the rankings. They were able to win both of them though.
The North Side Indians game stayed close most of the game with the Eagles winning 67-57.
On the other hand, Eagles were up by at least 19 points during the game, and let South Side creep back up in the end of the game
With 20.7 seconds left in the game, the Eagles fouled South Side which allowed them to tie the game.
Chester County’s Hunt Pipkin was able to save the game after hitting a shot to to be up by two, then Chad Barham hit a free throw after a last second foul to win 67-64.
