VIDEO: Lady Warriors turn to defense to get past local rival in Crest Savings Bank Game of the Week

Posted: January 1st 1970

Wildwood's Macie McCracken scored 20 points and posted 10 rebounds and eight steals in Sunday's win over Lower Cape May.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

ERMA – The Wildwood High School girls basketball team has been winning many of its games this season through its dynamic offense.

On Sunday, the Lady Warriors turned to their defense to grind out a victory over a local rival.

Facing a Lower Cape May team that limited one of its biggest strengths – its outside shooting – Wildwood held the Lady Tigers to no more than eight points in any quarter en route to a 40-26 victory.

“I think we sped them up a little,” said Wildwood junior Macie McCracken, who nearly posted a triple-double in the win, recording 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals. “We were able to get steals and that helped us score.”

Early in the game, Lower Cape May appeared poised to threaten for an upset. The Lady Tigers held a 14-12 lead midway through the second quarter, thanks in part to the work of junior forward Alex Vogt, who scored all 10 of her points in the first half. But Wildwood closed the half on a 10-1 surge before scoring seven of the first nine points of the third quarter to take control of the game.

Wildwood (9-3) allowed its opponent to make just five field goals over the final three quarters. The Lady Warriors led by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter.

The game was played before a rather large crowd as the back end of a boy-girl doubleheader between the two schools.

“It’s exciting because there were a lot of people here,” McCracken said. “We’re very happy with the win.”

Angela Wilber added nine points for Wildwood, scoring all of them in the first half. Sophia Wilber chipped in seven points and four assists.

Wildwood, which went into the game averaging 9.5 three-point field goals per game, made just five from that distance in the win. The 40-point output was the lowest of the season for a team that entered the contest averaging 62.5 points per game.

“Defensively, I’m very happy with what we did, because if you told me coming in here Wildwood would get 40 points, I would’ve said we’d have a shot to win,” Lower coach Scott Douglass said. “But offensively we just didn’t do enough. I don’t think we found the open people enough.”

Douglass credited the on-the-ball defense of Wildwood’s Kaliah Sumlin as a major factor in the game.

“No. 15 for them probably doesn’t get enough credit,” Douglass said. “I know she doesn’t score much for them but she’s a really, really good defender and her defense today was a major difference. She threw us off our game a bit.”

The loss snapped a seven-game win streak for Lower (9-2). One day earlier, the Lady Tigers went on the road and won against a previously unbeaten Bordentown team, 33-14.

Lower currently leads the Cape-Atlantic United Conference.

“I’m very happy with where we are,” Douglass said. “Today was a test for us and we didn’t do what we needed to do. We’re going to have some more tests coming up against some good teams and we’ll see how they go. But I’m very happy with our team. They work hard every single day.”