Photo by Wheeler High School

Wheeler has a long history of basketball tradition for both boys and girls. But the boys have had a lot of success under head coach Doug Lipscomb, winning five state titles since 1994. The girls are looking to have the same success and they looked to get an important win over region-rival Woodstock on Friday, but they came up short, losing 58-50 in a tough region battle.

The boys’ team had better luck against Woodstock, winning 85-74 to earn another region win. Thanks to the efforts of Charles Mitchell who scored 10 first quarter points, the Wildcats were able to get off to a 28-17 lead. Mitchell ended his day with a game-high 34 points.

“He’s had a very good year,” Lipscomb said. “I think all it took was to get more playing time.”

As good was Wheeler was to start the game, it did not crossover in to the second half because Woodstock was able to fight their way back and pull within as much as six points early in the fourth quarter. But with the help of Mitchell, who scored another 10 points, they were able to hold off the Wolverines and come away with an important win.

“They kept penetrating and finding the right people,” Lipscomb said about Woodstock’s second-half surge. “Their shooting percentage was a lot better and ours was not.

As for the rest of the Wildcats when it comes to contributions, Nigel Snipes added 10 points, K.K. Simmons scored six and Chris Longoria scored 12 in the win.

They have little time to celebrate this win because they will face Centennial on Saturday, Etowah on Monday, arch-rival on Monday and a possible state title preview next Friday when they take on No. 1 Milton.

The game did not start off well for the Lady Wildcats, as Woodstock was able to get on an 8-2 run. With the help of Tashayla Steede, who scored eight of her 20 points in the first quarter, the game was tied at 12.

In the second quarter, it was Aysia Grimsley’s turn to get into the action, scoring 11 of her 16 points in the quarter including three 3-pointers. That led to Wheeler being up by three at half time.

But it was the fourth quarter that killed Wheeler, as they only scored eight points compared to Woodstock’s 16, and Grimsley and Steede only scored a combined three points in the fourth.

Wheeler’s record falls to 6-8 on the year and 1-4 in Region 5-AAAAA. They will look to get back on the winning track when they take on Centennial in a home contest.