High school basketball: West Port girls defeat P.K. Yonge

West Port's Ciarra Lake drives to the basket Tuesday againstP.K. Yonge.
West Port's Ciarra Lake drives to the basket Tuesday againstP.K. Yonge.

West Port junior guard Mia Lake scored a game-high 19 points and sister, Ciarra Lake, added 14 points to go with 10 rebounds to lead the Wolf Pack to a 53-39 victory against visiting P.K. Yonge on Tuesday night.

West Port, which saw a 20-point halftime lead cut in half in the fourth quarter, improves to a perfect 5-0 on the season.

"We needed to come out and play the second half like we did the first half but we didn't do that," Wolf Pack coach Corey Rollerson said. "We got too comfortable with the lead and I told them P.K. Yonge wasn't going to go away. We're a young team with only one senior, but we've been playing together since the spring and that's helped us get to where we are now because we didn't have to do a lot of teaching going into the season. These girls are dedicated, they are hard workers and our goal is to get the West Port girls basketball program back to where it used to be."

The loss dropped P.K. Yonge, which had three players out with injuries, to 2-3 overall.

"We're young and we get nervous when the lights come on," Blue Wave veteran coach Willie Powers said. "The girls work hard, they take constructive criticism and we're just trying to improve, get better and be playing our best at the end of the season."

West Port started the game strong as N'Yanni Washington scored four of her seven points, Mia Lake added four and Saige McCloud knocked down a pair of shots as the Wolf Pack jumped out to an 18-6 lead heading to the second quarter.

P.K. Yonge, which committed 18 turnovers, went cold from the floor and had several miscues and errant passes against West Port's full-court press which the Wolf Pack converted into easy baskets.

Washington scored three points, Mia Lake contributed four and Aaliyah Grant added a bucket to give the Wolf Pack a commanding 29-9 lead at the half.

P.K. Yonge came out with renewed energy in the second half as Ashlyn Young scored eight of her team-high 12 points and Zion McRae added seven of her 11 points to pull the Blue Wave within 12 points late in the third period.

West Port, which had 15 turnovers, answered as Mia Lake, who had five assists and three steals, scored four points on a pair of drives to the basket and Ciarra Lake, a sophomore center, added five points to give the Wolf Pack a 41-29 lead heading to the final eight minutes.

P.K. Yonge refused to fold and crept closer as Dee Goldwire scored four of her seven points and Sydney English added a bucket in the paint.

With the lead, West Port ran clock with each possession and Mia Lake used her quickness and athleticism to drive to the basket to score seven points to keep the Wolf Pack ahead of the Blue Wave.

Ciarra Lake, who had three blocks, made sure there would be no comeback as she scored five points and West Port ran out the clock to seal the victory.

"We want to do what's best for us offensively and we work on these things in practice," Rollerson said. "P.K. Yonge is a very quick team and they like to get up and down the court, so we used a man-to-man press to try and slow their guards down and take away their transition baskets."

West Port is back in action with a road game at Williston on Friday night, while P.K. Yonge is at Madison County on Thursday night.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: West Port defeats P.K. Yonge in girls basketball