On Wednesday, December 14, the Wayne Badgers came to town starving for a win, which they achieved over the JV squad 47-37. However, in the nightcap, both teams lethargically played to a 4-4 knot with the Buffalos drawing first-blood at the four-minute mark. They scored eight more while blanking the Badgers in the second-quarter. Wayne waged a 13-to-four run in the third-quarter to comeback for a 17-16 lead entering the final frame. Suddenly awakened, the Buffs gained a 31-30 edge with 54.9 seconds to go. Janilyn Hoyt, whose only tallies occurred in the fourth, based on a deuce and three-for-six at the stripe, brought the win home at 34-30! Ruth Cox led all five scorers with 14; Kimber Reeve had six; Rachel Cox netted five along with her cousin Lydia’s four.
“Particularly, it was a good slow start,” began Head Coach Dustin Cox’s analysis. “Our girl held them to four points in the first-half. I mean, we only scored 12; but when you look at the ratio of it: 12-to-4, that’s a pretty good differential, right? We needed to come out a little stronger in the third, but we kept going. But then, just staying strong, staying firm: not givingup. But it got to the point where I, as a coach, I was talking too much. I needed to just ‘John Wooden’ it (Ten-time National Championship-winner with UCLA from 1964-75, including three undefeated seasons, and author of “Wooden on Leadership”), and sit down, and watch the game, and cheer for the things that needed to happen, you know?
“They know what to do,” he continued emphatically. “They know what to do! And so, that’s what I did: I said, ‘You guys know what to do; just do it.’ And almost immediately, they just blew it; they just blew it! And so, Jan [Hoyt] was feeling bad about missing a foul shot there at the end. But I said, ‘Jan, we don’t need you to make all of them; we just need you to make one more.’ And she made enough to put us up by four. So, as long as they don’t foul them on a three-pointer, and they make it, and then make a foul shot, we’re just fine, you know.
“So, lots of things: I know they’re tired; it’s wintertime, sickness; they’re sluggish, nutrition. There’s a good win for them: it was a good win.” Next up after the Christmas Moratorium (21-25) will be at Milford on December 28, then at home for the Endowment Game vs. Fredonia.
