Photo by Travis David | Sullivan senior Jacie Wilson goes up for a shot against a pair of Owen Valley defenders in the first half of Saturday's win. Wilson netted season high's in points and rebounds in the win.

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BY TRAVIS DAVID

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SULLIVAN — When Vance Edmondson took over the reins of the Sullivan girls basketball team last season he knew the potential of post player Jacie Wilson.

Although Wilson nearly averaged a double-double, Edmondson — who was known for running his offense through his post players during a successful run coaching boys teams — knew Wilson had another level in herself.

The Lady Arrow senior is reaching that level this season.

Just ask Owen Valley.

Wilson netted a season-best 28 points and 16 rebounds in powering the Lady Arrows to a 52-31 win over their Western Indiana Conference rivals Saturday night. With the win, Sullivan improved to 4-0 on the year and 1-0 in league play.

“You know, I thought Jacie played a little passive at times last season,” the head coach said of his star. “That has not been the case this year through the first four games and she showed that again tonight. She’s playing with a lot of passion and a lot of energy right now. If we can continue to get that out of her every night this year, we are going to win a lot of games.”

The senior did most of her damage in the first half which allowed the Arrows to have a 19-6 lead after one quarter and carry a 33-18 advantage at the break. Wilson tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds through the first 16 minutes of play.

In typical fashion, the soft-spoken senior deferred credit to her teammates.

“It was a great team win,” Wilson said. “My teammates and I worked well together and we got the job done. They found me with great passes into the low post in the perfect position where I could get my hands on it and go up to put it in the bucket.”

After the Patriots scored the first two points of the game, Sullivan registered the next 11 to take early control on the contest. 

Ally McKinney found Wilson in the post for a bucket and an 8-2 lead, before the talented guard capped the 11-0 run with a triple from the with just under five minutes left in the opening frame.

McKinney and Wilson combined for 18 of the Arrows’ 19 points in the opening frame.

Olivia Griffith opened the second-quarter scoring with a triple from the right wing — assisted by Destiny Gaines. 

After Owen Valley scored on a baseline jumper, Wilson found freshman Rigley Goodman in the corner for a triple before completing an old-fashioned 3-point play and a commanding 28-9 lead.

Owen Valley would come no closer than 13 points the rest of the game.

Wilson’s offensive explosion helped offset some foul trouble by Goodman and McKinney.

“Our bench did a good job of stepping up tonight and helping us overcome some adversity,” Wilson said of the foul trouble sending McKinney and Goodman to the bench for a good part of the first half.

The Sullivan defense also played havoc on the Patriots throughout. The Arrows forced Owen Valley into 32 turnovers. The Sullivan defense came away with 20 steals in the win, led by seven from Goodman.

“They are a younger version of us,” Edmondson said of the Patriots. “So we knew that we wanted to pressure them and kind of beat them with our experience. I thought we got them rattled early and getting turnovers helped. I was proud of the defensive effort tonight from the whole team.”

Through the first three games of the season — all wins — Owen Valley averaged 62 points per game.

“They had put a lot of points on the board in those games, so for us to hold them down to 31 points, I am very pleased with that,” the Arrows’ head coach said.

Averi Kelley did not log any points, but the guard came away with six steals and dished out three assists in the win.

Katherine Sarver connected on a trio of free throws in addition to six rebounds and three steals, while Griffith pulled down five boards.

McKinney (8), Goodman (6), Gaines (4) and Griffith (3) combined for 21 points in the win.

“It was just a total team effort tonight,” Edmondson said. “We had some players who may not have showed up in the scoring column but they all made solid contributions to the win.”

Sullivan takes a perfect 4-0 record into a pair of tough weekend games coming up. Friday night, the Arrows play host to Class 3A No. 3 ranked Washington before hosting conference rival Edgewood the following night.

“We are going to enjoy our win tonight, but then we are going to prepare ourselves to battle the Hatchets on Friday here in our house,” Wilson said.

Thanks to Legacy Seed Solutions for the sponsorship of this story