Strong second half propels Whitefield to season opening win over Atlanta Classical
The 2024 Georgia High School Association basketball season has officially begun and the Whitefield Academy Wolfpack boy's team hit the hardwood for their season opener as they hosted the Atlanta Classical Cavaliers. And while the Wolfpack found themselves trailing 41-37 at halftime, a 15-2 run to start the third quarter would appear to be the spark they would need as they would never relinquish the lead in route to a 85-76 win.
"Yeah, I'd say it wasn't exactly exciting how we were defending in that first half so that was the emphasis at halftime," Whitefield head coach, Greg Blythe said after Tuesday win, explaining how he and his staff had to remind their players to rely on their "identity" as a team. "Our identity, we have to defend," Blythe said of the Wolfpack's mind set as they began the third quarter with Graham Hood scoring the first five points of the period to help Whitefield outscore Atlanta Classical 26-19 to lead 63-60 by the end of the quarter.
Withstanding Atlanta Classicals late third quarter run, Whitefield would open up the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run which Blythe credited his coaching staff for suggesting a defensive change and praised his players for their execution. "My staff suggested we go two, three and so I went with it in that two, three zone and kind of stymied them for a little bit," Blythe said of the Wolfpack's adjustments defensively which helped them close of with the nine point win.
The Wolfpack will return to action next Tuesday when they take on Pickens County and as the season continues, Blythe says one area of growth his wants to see with his players is "confidence" throughout the season. "I felt like early on we started taking some haymakers a little bit, we were on the receiving end and we want to be in that kind of attack mode and just go all in and trust each other with it," which Blythe credited his players for doing in the second half of Tuesday's win.
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