Lady Bishops survive at Wando

Bishop England coach Paul Runey shuffled about the Wando gym anxiously before tipoff. There have been times in the past few years that the crosstown rivalry matchup wouldn’t have given the Bishops’ coach pause. The Warriors had beaten the Bishops just once in the past 10 meetings. But that once was last January — the last time the two met — and Runey wasn’t looking forward to any sort of losing streak. “Even if there were times we might’ve had their number, I never thought it was because of talent. I really think it was more psychological than anything,” Runey said. “They have a good team now. They’re well coached, and they’re not going to just freeze against us.” Bishop England survived Wando, 59-53, Saturday in Mount Pleasant to push its advantage in the rivalry series to 38-15 over the past 41 years. Clare McTighe tied the game for AAAAA No. 10 Wando with a layup with four minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Caroline Funk later pulled the Warriors within two, 55-53, with 29 seconds remaining. But Rhetta Moore, a SCBCA AAA preseason Top 5 selection, sank a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to keep the AAA No. 1 Bishops safe from danger. “At the end, I called a timeout just to tell them, ‘Look, you’ve got it. Just relax, be smart, play sound basketball and we’ll get out of here,’” Runey said. “I thought they handled it well, and Rhetta went up there and made her free throws when they counted.” Bishop England built a lead as large as 12 less than two minutes into the third quarter. Wando responded out of a timeout with a four-minute, 17-3 run powered by three 3-pointers from McTighe. The Warriors’ AAAAA preseason Top 5 pick sank a three from the wing with 1:50 left in the quarter to give Wando its first lead, 37-35, of the game. McTighe finished with a game-high 22 points while Skylar Blackstock added 19. “McTighe can hit threes from anywhere on the court. There isn’t a whole lot you can do when she starts running,” Runey said. “Blackstock, a lefty, she’s going to take the ball hard to the basket. We didn’t want to let those two beat us.” Bishop England never led by more than six in the fourth quarter as McTighe and Blackstock both scored six points in the frame to keep the game tight. Moore scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the fourth. She was just 1-of-4 from the free-throw line in the quarter before icing the game with a pair in the final seconds. The Bishops overcame 18 turnovers by winning the rebounding battle, 41-34, and shooting 46 percent from inside the 3-point arc. Wando scored half of its 18 points in the first half from the free-throw line, then followed with just four made free throws in the second half. “I really came into the game knowing we’d have to do everything right, maybe even have a little luck,” Runey said. “I really thought, coming into the season, Wando could be one of the top teams in the area. They’re a good ball club. While we’re happy that we won, we know, the girls know, there’s a lot that went wrong out there. We’re happy to get out of here with a win, but we know we have to correct those things moving forward.” Bishop England and Wando meet again Jan. 7 on Daniel Island.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bishop England High School Athletics

LADY BISHOPS SURVIVE AT WANDO

FRANKIE MANSFIELD

Moultrie News | 12/5/2016

PHOTO CREDIT: Frankie Mansfield