Each trip down the floor is a learning experience for Wilde Lake.

With a starting lineup of three sophomores and two juniors, the Wildecats are a bundle of energy and nerves. It's not quite Basketball 101, but it's close.

Wilde Lake, which graduated last season's five starters, played host last night to 20th-ranked Long Reach, a team with all its starters back. On paper, one could see the Lightning's experience and give them the nod. But the game's played on wood, not paper.

Wilde Lake took advantage of Long Reach turnovers and poor free-throw shooting for a 51-44 victory. The Wildecats (3-0 overall, 1-0 league) jumped out to a 7-0 and, paced by Bryanna Herring's 22 points, never let the Lightning (2-2, 1-1) back into the game.

"We didn't work hard enough," said Long Reach coach Shanya Evans. "We aren't playing four quarters of basketball, and that's our big downfall right now."

Long Reach outscored Wilde Lake 9-3 in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late. The Wildecats led by nine after the first quarter and by 32-18 at halftime.

"We had a slow start," Evans said. "In warm-ups, we're aren't preparing ourselves for the game. A good team is ready to play from the start, and we weren't ready. They were able to take advantage of it. Give them credit. They wanted it more then we did."

4 Wilde Lake coach Kelly Storr saw the same thing.

"They played hard," Storr said. "They continuously worked, they continuously hustled. I'm pleased with how they played."

And she wasn't about to let the three-point fourth-quarter output spoil an otherwise successful evening.

"That's definitely a concern, but that's youth," Storr said. "Once we get a couple more games under our belts, we'll learn to take a little bit more control and take our time."

Long Reach never recovered from a disastrous first quarter, when it made just three of 12 field-goal attempts and turned the ball over eight times against Wilde Lake's pressing defense. The Lightning got within 10-6 with 3: 25 left in the first quarter, but Wilde Lake pulled away when Herring's three-point play started a 7-0 run.

Herring said the Wildecats will need time to learn to play together but that last night's game was a positive sign.

"We were a lot more confident with our offense," said Herring, who added 13 rebounds and three blocks. "We were pumped up. We knew could beat them."

Sophomore starter Nicole Roy-Harrison contributed 11 points for the Wildecats, and 5-10 sophomore Tanae Jenifer was productive off the bench, scoring eight.

Sharetta Gross led the Lightning with 13 points, and Thandi Howell had 11, nine in the second half. Long Reach missed 16 free throws in the game, 12 in the first half.

Pub Date: 12/17/98