While the Winona Christian boys were struggling in fourth periods, the Lady Stars were picking up a win.
The Stars lost two games at the Columbus Christian tournament after leading both games in the fourth period, falling 47-36 to Nanih Waiya and 48-41 to Columbus.
The Lady Stars picked up a win, beating Columbus Christian 42-31.
Winona Christian will return from the Christmas break and dive into division competition as the Stars how Carroll on Friday, Jan. 5. The next week, Winona will host Marshall on Tuesday, Jan. 9 and Oak Hill on Friday, Jan. 12.
The Lady Stars used big advantages in the first and third periods to take an 11-point win over the Lady Rams on Thursday.
Winona Christian led 13-6 at the end of the first period and 23-19 at the half. But the Lady Stars pulled away in the third period as they outscored the Lady Rams 11-3 in the third to lead 34-21 heading into the fourth.
Anna Cole Ware led WCS with 20 points while Ivey Devine had eight points. Sara Beth White had six points, while Ashlynn Bloom chipped in five and Elise Diffey added four.
Stars
The Stars were outscored 23-11 in the fourth period and dropped an 11-point decision to Nanih Waiya on Thursday.
Winona led 12-10 at the end of the first period but were outscored 14-5 in the second as Nanih Waiya led 24-17 at the half. The Stars took lead back in the third as they outscored the Warriors 8-0 to take a 25-24 lead into the fourth.
“We played two good teams,” Winona boys coach Keith Ware said. “We have just got to find a way to finish games. We led Columbus the whole game until about four minutes left in the fourth. We have really improved and some guys off bench are getting some key playing time.”
Austin Huggins led Winona with 10 points while Latham Hill had eight points and Reed Roberts added seven. Isaac Eiland led Nanih Waiya with 32 points.
The Stars lost another fourth-period led as they dropped a seven-point decision to homestanding Columbus Christian.
After each team scored 11 points in the first period, Winona outscored Columbus 14-9 in the second to lead 25-20 at the half. After each team scored 10 in the third with Winona leading 35-30, Columbus used an 18-6 advantage in the fourth to take the win.
Shaw Ferguson led Winona with 13 points while Roberts added 12 points. Justin Richardson added seven points while Choyce Diffey added six points.
