Their night to shine
- Updated: January 30, 2016
Nelson, Young have career nights for White Plains as they make the most of their increased roles
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Chasity Nelson and Grey Young aren’t two names one typically finds at the top of a White Plains girls basketball box score, but Friday was their night to shine.
The two underclassmen enjoyed career nights in the Lady Wildcats’ 67-15 rout of Faith Christian in their final home game of the season.
Nelson, a sophomore, and junior Young both scored 15 points. Nelson had scored only 13 points all season coming into the game and never more than the four she scored in the season-opener, ironically against Faith.
“Having my coaches to tell me to be confident really helps a lot,” Nelson said. “And having teammates who really encourage me to be aggressive with the ball helps a lot, too.”
Both have seen their production increase in recent games as the Lady Wildcats look to fill the gaps created by losing three regulars to injury. One of the injured is Young’s older sister Mary Clare.
Nelson had scored seven points in the prior three games starting in the Calhoun County Tournament, including her first 3-pointer of the season in the fourth quarter Tuesday night at Saks. Young had scored 42 points before Friday, 11 coming in the Saks game.
They can expect an even greater role going forward as coach Joi Watts looks to build depth in this week leading up to the area tournament.
“The good thing about both of those is they can score,” Watts said. “The opportunities haven’t really been presented this season and so tonight and probably the next couple games we want to get them involved in our offense as much as possible.
“It’s awesome to see this, especially when you see how hard they work in practice and you know that they can score and they go out there and do it. The girls are very involved and we were excited for their success. We’ll do that the next couple of games because they’re a huge part of our success, a huge part of our future.”
There wasn’t much to the game. The Lady Lions, shorthanded to begin with, were without leading scorer Madison Stephens (illness) and coach Bradley Dawson pulled up several B-teamers to flush out the roster with predictable results.
The Lady Wildcats scored the first 19 points of the game and at one point led 36-2. It was 38-5 at halftime. Faith’s scoring in the first half consisted of Logan Boyd’s basket with 2:04 left in the first quarter and eighth-grader Sydnee Johnson’s 3-pointer 3:09 before halftime.
White Plains 67, Faith Christian 15
FAITH CHRISTIAN – C.J. Settles 1 0-0 2, Emily Sills 1 0-0 3, Shelly Phillips 0 0-0 0, Ashleigh Mockabee 0 0-0 0, Sarah Christjohn 0 0-0 0, Sydnee Johnson 2 0-0 5, Regan Crosby 0 0-0 0, Logan Boyd 2 0-0 5, Sarah Kate McVeigh 0 0-0 0, Kirsten Covington 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 0-0 15.
WHITE PLAINS – Rian Chandler 3 0-0 6, Korie Burgess 0 4-4 4, Ann Katherine Dothard 1 5-7 7, Chasity Nelson 6 2-2 15, Grey Young 7 0-0 15, Shelby Wood 4 2-3 11, Jocelyn Harris 4 1-2 9. Totals 25 14-18 67.
Faith Christian 2 3 10 0 — 15
White Plains 21 17 21 8 — 67
3-point goals: Faith 3 (Sills, Johnson, Boyd); White Plains 3 (Nelson, Young, Wood). Total fouls: Faith 10, White Plains 2. Officials: Stubbs, Kelley, Brewster.
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