Parkway West Girls Snap Funk With Torrid Shooting

Fans of the Parkway West girls varsity team have to be wondering what got into the Longhorns on Tuesday night.

The Parkway Central Colts were powerless against Parkway West as the Longhorns drilled 13 shots in 19 attempts from 3-point range. They defeated the Colts, 71-45, in a conference battle.

Parkway West improved to 4-17 this season, including 2-3 in the Suburban South Conference. They had lost 13 of their previous 14 games. Parkway Central (9-13) is 2-3 in league play.

“Shots were falling at a higher rate for us,” said Longhorns head coach John Sloop. “Basketball is a crazy game and we just made more of our shots tonight.”

The Colts managed a two-point lead over the Longhorns in the first quarter, 12-10. But they couldn’t hold onto the lead for long as the Longhorns controlled the rest of the game, holding the Colts to four points in the second quarter while scoring 18 for a 28-16 halftime lead.

The Colts were able to capitalize on some open shots in the third quarter, yet it was still not enough as the Longhorns added 20 more points in the period for a surprising 48-28 advantage.

Senior guard Katie Caragher came out extremely confident in the second half for West, knocking down five of her seven 3-pointers, four of which came in the fourth quarter. Caragher finished with a game-high 25 points.

Coach Sloop said that once the shots started falling, the Longhorns’ confidence level really soared.

“It was a steady build throughout the game,” Sloop said. He added that his players were very aggressive on the defensive end and with rebounding.

Junior guard Rayna Smith led the Longhorns with 10 boards and also scored 16 points. Senior forward Maggie Wenstrup was guarded for the majority of the game by 6-foot-3-inch Colts freshman center Zoe Wallis. However, this challenge did not stop Wenstrup from being aggressive inside, and she finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Alison Magruder led Parkway Central with 22 points.