The Overcomers

Over the past two seasons, the Whitehall-Yearling girls basketball program has gone 6-36, according to the reported results on Maxpreps.com.

On Tuesday night, the Lady Rams took their homecourt against Central Buckeye League foe, Bexley, a team that had beaten them every time they've faced each other for the past three seasons. To get a clear picture of this lopsided feud, Bexley had outscored Whitehall-Yearling 269-131 in the last five games, including a couple of losses that had 58-8 and 67-15 scores.

Renny Tyson, in his first season at Whitehall-Yearling after last coaching the Northland High School girls to a 16-7 record and an appearance in the 2023 Columbus City League championship game, reminded his new team one night prior in practice, that the time for excuses was over and that they simply had to be better.

After splitting the first two games of the season, one win against Licking Valley (72-47) before a loss to London (56-35), Whitehall-Yearling found itself in a dog fight at home against Bexley. Behind the aggressive defensive play of transfer guard Kyeona Myers, Whitehall-Yearling took an early lead and looked better than the 4-16 team that it finished as last year.

Then before the midway point of the first quarter, Myers, who played the 2023-24 season at Mansfield Senior High, a team that went 20-4 and advanced to the state semi-finals, ended up in foul trouble. She left the game with two fouls and with her seemed to exit a spirit of toughness and confidence.

"For a second, I felt like it was my fault," Myers said, while watching her team fall behind as she watched from the bench. "Me getting fouls kind of switched the atmosphere and we lost our momentum. When I was sitting on the bench, I [felt I had to get back out there] and shift the momentum."

After leading 8-5 early, Whitehall-Yearling fell behind to Bexley 30-22 at the half. Myers' instincts of her exit having an impact on the atmosphere was accurate. When she left the game, Bexley found comfort on the offensive end. They slowed the pace and turned a transitional game into a halfcourt game on offense.

Whitehall hung tough behind the sharpshooting of Kaylee Jackson, who nailed three first half three-pointers on her way to 15 points. Outside of Jackson, Bexley looked to be in control of the game, and it would be fair to believe that the visiting players thought that another win was in the bag against Whitehall-Yearling.

Bexley captured a 10-point lead in the third quarter, before things started to click for Whitehall-Yearling. Myers scored seven of her 11 overall points in the third quarter, while she and AJ Woods fueled the Whitehall-Yearling defense which eventually forced Bexley to speed up against its will. The third quarter ended with a narrow Bexley lead of 40-39.

In the fourth quarter, Whitehall-Yearling turned up the defensive heat to a higher degree but blown layups and a few bad passes allowed Bexley to turn misses and turnovers into points. Despite their mistakes, Whitehall kept fighting, which seemed to catch Bexley off guard. Jackson, who stood out on offense in the first half, amped up her defense in the fourth quarter and reserve forward Olivia Collins also pitched in, collecting numerous rebounds, loose balls and making stops near the basket.

Jayla Dukes complimented the Whitehall-Yearling defense with an eight-point fourth quarter scoring all but two of her team's points in the period. By the time there were all zeroes in regulation, there was a 49-49 tie on the scoreboard.

In overtime, Whitehall-Yearling pitched a near shutout allowing just one point and zero field goals from Bexley. Woods, Myers and Collins continued to shine defensively which helped create easier scoring opportunities as Bexley appeared exhausted a frustrated as the game grew more and more difficult.

Dukes scored 20 points to lead Whitehall-Yearling in scoring, including a clutch three-point bucket in the overtime session. Woods scored eight points and Collins posted all of her five points in the second half.

Bexley was led by Julia Olson's game-high 23 points, which included a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line. The sophomore forward also exhibited poised passing through much of the game for the visiting Lions.

Bexley, now 0-2, looks for its first win of the season as it faces Buckeye Valley on Saturday, Nov. 30. Whitehall-Yearling (2-1) looks to continue its best start since the 2019-20 season when it started 4-0. The Lady Rams will take on Worthington Christian on Nov. 30 as well.