Don’t look now, but Gaston’s girls basketball team – a program that is averaging three wins a season over the last five years – is now 7-1 after taking out Neah-Kah-Nie and Vernonia over the weekend to win the Gaston Holiday Tournament.
The Lady Greyhounds overcame some early jitters to dispatch Neah-Kah-Nie 47-41 on Friday night, then hung on in overtime to clip Vernonia 58-57 on Saturday.
“The girls are learning to win and learning to believe in themselves,” second-year Gaston coach Jamie Medley said. “At this point they know what winning feels like as opposed to what they’ve experienced the last few years. They’re gaining confidence and they need that.”
The key to Gaston’s success this year seems to be its unselfish attitude – the Lady Hounds have a different high scorer almost every night, and no one seems to care who gets the glory.
“They play really well as a team,” Medley said. “They’re so unselfish.”
Gaston very nearly had three players with double-doubles in Friday’s win over Neah-Kah-Nie. Jessica Garner led the way with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Hannah Van Dyke had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Chelsea Felker added nine points and 11 boards.
The next night against Vernonia it was Van Dyke leading the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds as Gaston survived some anxious moments.
The first came at the end of regulation when Breanne Steele made two free throws to tie the game, and the second came in overtime when Becca Brown drained a pair of shots from the charity stripe to ice the victory.
“It was a great game,” Medley said. “Very intense.”
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