Lady Dream knocks off Lady Sparks to close out season

The Lady Dream of the girls 8-10 Washington Youth Basketball League age group defeated the Lady Sparks on Saturday in a closely contested defensive showcase, 11-9.

Both point guards played impeccable defense, resulting in turnovers on both ends. Dream guard Marchuna Warren was a scoring machine in the first half, but had difficulty finding her teammates in the paint. After the break, Warren shut down the scoring and started to successfully find open players, which gave her team the edge down the stretch. Warren finished with a game-high nine points. For Sparks guard Jordan Smallwood, turnovers were limited when she was on the floor, as she spent most of her minutes dishing to open teammates.

“The second half we played a whole lot better, a whole lot different,” said Dream Head Coach Sam Crawford. “We changed some things up on defense. There were a couple of things we need to adjust to stay competitive with some of their good players.”

The back-and-forth defensive affair came down to the final second of play. The Dream’s full court press managed to force turnovers towards the end, but the offense remained stagnant. A bucket from Ashley Moore, her only two points, gave the Dream a two-point lead, one they would never relinquish.

“Next game is going to be another one we’re going to have to get,” Crawford said. “If we win that, we go to the championship. I think they’ll be more fired up to play.”

Lady Mystics take care of business against Lady Cougars

The Lady Mystics of the girls 11-15 Washington Youth Basketball League age group had little trouble knocking off the Lady Cougars on Saturday, 39-18.

“We played good at the first part of the game, but then kind of got away from our game plan at the end,” said Mystics Head Coach Rodney Rich. “We were short staffed with a few players not here, so we got into some early foul trouble. Other than that, we played a good game overall. We made a lot better decisions today, and that was the key.”

The Mystics’ trifecta of talented guards, Tierra Wiggins, Cierra Wiggins and Trazyra Windley ran the offense to perfection. When on the court, Windley would find the Wiggins sisters on the wing, drawing the defense to the perimeter.

The Wiggins duo did the rest, hitting contested layups in the paint and taking advantage of open mid-range jumpers. Tierra finished with 14, while Cierra ended with a game-high 15 points. Both were the majority of the Mystics’ offensive output.

Despite being outmatched offensively, the Cougars spread the floor and played well over the final quarter of play.

The Mystics head into the postseason with championship aspirations.

“We get one practice on Wednesday,” Rich said. “We’re going to work a little but more on our trap, a little more with our defensive rebounding because John’s (Lampkins) team has MiAsia (Roberson), a good rebounder. “