Wendell Rieves wants to get back to the “Big House.”
Last season, Rieves was a junior on the West Lowndes High School boys basketball team that advanced to play in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A State tournament at Mississippi Coliseum. A disappointing loss to Shaw left a bad taste in the mouths of all of the West Lowndes players and provided ample motivation for the 2014-15 season.
Last week, West Lowndes received another source of motivation — a one-point loss to West Oktibbeha in the Class 1A State tournament at Mississippi Coliseum. A disappointing loss to Shaw left a bad taste in the mouths of all of the West Lowndes players and provided ample motivation for the 2014-15 season.
Last week, West Lowndes received another source of motivation — a one-point loss to West Oktibbeha in the Class 1A, Region 5 tournament — that left it as a No. 2 seed entering the final stretch to Jackson.
Rieves is going to do everything he can to make sure he and the Panthers use both of those losses to help energize them. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior provided the lift West Lowndes needed Tuesday, hitting three 3-pointers in a 1-minute, 48-second span of the fourth quarter that propelled his team to a 77-63 victory against Mount Olive.
“I can shoot all over the court,” Rieves said. “All we had to do was move the pick and roll and give and go and the shot was open.”
With the victory, West Lowndes (17-9) will play the winner of the Durant-St. Aloysius game, which will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, on Saturday. If Durant wins, West Lowndes will be on the road. If St. Aloysius wins, West Lowndes will be home.
If the Panthers are home, there’s no doubt Rieves (16 points) will look to make an impact like he did against Mount Olive (15-9). The three 3-pointers helped him join Darius Harkins (18), Casey Smith (16), and D’Quaylon Brown (14) in double figures. He did his damage from the right wing on a portion of the floor that has earned the nickname “Rieves Country.” All of the 3-pointers came within two steps of each other as teammates penetrated and kicked to the open shooter, which allowed Rieves to do his thing.
Rieves said he was “calmer” later in the game after he felt he rushed things in the first quarter. He said he had to remind himself to slow down and keep up with his teammates on the press when the Panthers forced turnovers. He said the fast pace makes it easier for shooters to get open looks so they can get into a groove.
It was easy to tell Rieves was in that zone after the first 3-pointer. On the second and third, he exaggerated the follow through on his stroke to add an exclamation point to the daggers.
“It felt like just put the ball in my hand because I feel like I have the hot hand and I am ready to shoot,” Rieves said. “I had confidence I was going to make it. It was big because everyone was expecting me to make my 3-pointers.”
West Lowndes coach Roosevelt Bridges said a recent illness has affected Rieves and his shooting. He admits the Panthers’ pressing style doesn’t help shooters like Rieves get into a rhythm. That’s part of the reason he stays on his senior because he needs him to rebound and he needs him to stay active so he can capitalize when he is left open on the wing.
“Like I told Rieves, he is one of my leaders out there, so if I can’t get Rieves to play, the other guys, some of them won’t even play,” Bridges said. “That is why I stay on Rieves so much. He is the backbone of the team. I need him. He helps me control the boys out there at times. Since he has been sick, he has kind of been off, but he is a good ballplayer.”
West Lowndes recovered from a 9-0 hole to start the game and trailed only 21-18 after an up-and-down first quarter. A drive by Smith with 4:15 to go in the second quarter gave the Panthers a 28-27 lead they didn’t relinquish. The cushion grew to as many as eight in the third quarter before Rieves’ third trey and a layup by Jevontrae Williams off a turnover kicked the lead to 64-54 with 4:43 to play.
The Pirates cut the deficit to six once down the stretch, but the Panthers hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:42 to seal the deal.
Brown hopes the victory is a first step on ramping up the speed, especially on defense, to get the Panthers rolling. He said there was no question they played faster agaiunst Mount Olive than they did against West Oktibbeha.
“We wanted to win because if we didn’t win we would have to go home, and we didn’t want to go home,” Brown said.
Brown said West Lowndes “gave up” in the district tournament, which allowed West Oktibbeha to control the backboards. He said the Panthers played like they wanted to play against the Pirates. He said they have to have a “big heart” because he doesn’t want to be sitting at home watching another team play for a state title in the Big House.
Bridges said he saw signs his team can play the 2-2-1 pressure defense like he wants. And while Rieves and Brown said the Panthers played with more energy than they did in the region tournament, Bridges knows they will have to play even faster and harder if they want to realize their goal and get back to Jackson.
“Give credit to Mount Olive. They have a good basketball team, but I felt we didn’t crash the boards enough,” Bridges said. “We did move it up and down the floor, but they still didn’t do my defense like I wanted them to do. … We are going to have to come back and work on that.”
But having shooters like Rieves stake a claim to a piece of the court and make it his own can help a team overcome a lot of things. On Tuesday, Bridges hopes one of his senior leaders had a bounce-back game that will help him find his shooting stroke.
“I have been waiting on Rieves to do this,” Bridges said. “I am glad to see him coming back around. I think down the road we are going to see a lot more of those threes.”
n Victory Christian girls lose in title game: At Oxford, Alabama, Faith Miley had 20 points Saturday in the Victory Christian girls basketball team’s 56-39 loss to Lindsey Lane in the Alabama Christian Education Athletic Association championship game.
Alex Brown added eight points for the Lady Eagles, who finished the season 18-4.
Miley and Kennedy Blunt were named to the all-tournament team.
In the semifinals, Victory Christian defeated Tabernacle 38-34. Blunt had 14 points and Miley had 13.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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