The West Marion Lady Trojans (3-15, 0-6) were in search of their first district victory of the season Friday night on the road but suffered a devastating 34-32 loss to Wesson.
“It was a capsule of our season,” head coach Steven Fortenberry said. “We led the entire ball game until the last three or four minutes of the fourth quarter. We just could not buy shots and couldn’t make free throws. I think we missed nine free throws in the final quarter.”
Missing nine free throws in the final quarter of a two-point game is a tough pill to swallow in itself, but how the Lady Trojans lost is a much bigger pill to swallow.
“We ended up fouling a young lady trying to take a half-court shot as the buzzer went off. She went to the line and made two free throws, and that was the difference in the ball game,” Fortenberry said. “It should have went into overtime. It’s just another example of us not knowing how to win.”
Fortenberry expanded on the moments leading up to the final play of the heartbreaker.
“There was 6.3 seconds to go and they threw the ball in, we stole it and took a shot from three quarters of the court, and it didn’t go half the length of the court. A girl from Wesson got the ball and took the shot. She probably didn’t weigh but 90 pounds soaking wet. There was no way she could have got it from half court, but we fouled her.”
As a coach after a game like that, the right words can be hard to come by, but Fortenberry found the right message for his players.
“We had two or three players that were very emotional after the game. I told them if losing still bothers you, that’s a good sign that you want to improve. They could have just threw their hands up and act like it didn’t bother them, but we had a few where it really bothered them,” he said. “We want to win, just don’t know how to yet.”
Janiece Brady led the Trojans with 10 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks, and Shania Jefferson added eight points and four rebounds. Hannah Miller had just three points but hauled in 11 rebounds and had three steals. Keatra Harvey and Delilah Lee each had five points to balance the scoring attack for the Lady Trojans.
West Marion played Columbia Tuesday night, losing 54-43. The Lady Trojans will host Tylertown Friday night at 6.
Pictured Above: Paris Atkins hauls in a rebound against Columbia. | Photo by Mark Rogers
