Burch leads Wolves past Musselman Middle, 35-32

Seventh grade point guard Diedra Burch put on quite a show at Warm Springs Middle School on Thursday, January 18, scoring 22 of Warm Springs 35 points, to help carry the Lady Wolves to an upset victory over visiting Musselman Middle School.

"Diedra had a great game," said Warm Springs coach Jeff Derby. "She handled the ball well, played great defense, shot the ball well from the outside and did a very good job of taking the ball to the basket in the final quarter."

Musselman, trailing 12-9 at half, seem to come out of the locker room with renewed energy and outscored the Wolves 13-9 in the third quarter for a 22-21 lead heading into the final quarter of regulation.

The Wolves outscored Musselman 14-10 in the final six minutes to secure the victory, although there was a big gasp of relief from the home crowd, when a desperate three-point attempt by Musselman, at the buzzer, fell short.

Michelle Williams, who played a solid game on both ends of the court, added eight points to the Wolves total, while Chelsea Hessler and McKenzie Ambrose scored three and two points, respectively.

"I thought Michelle (Williams) played very well tonight," Derby said. "She was all over the place and came up with some key baskets."

Warm Springs then traveled to Paw Paw the following day and beat the Pirates 46-11. Burch, Williams and Brooke Hessler led a balanced Wolves offense, scoring eight points each, with every other player on the team also getting into the scoring column.

The Lady Wolves, first place in their division of the Mountain State Athletic Conference, are currently 10-2 on the year.