By Dan King

The Whitehall girls’ basketball team has battled through injuries and has had its fair share of struggles this season, but on Thursday the Railroaders sealed their first win of the season.

Whitehall hosted Salem (1-13, 1-15) and came out on top of a 32-31 nail bitter.

When the two teams played earlier in the season at Salem, the Generals snuck out a 31-30 overtime victory, thanks to a stifling defense. This time it was the Railroaders’ turn to batten down the hatches with good defense, particularly in the form of a stingy full court press.

The Railroaders trailed by six at halftime, but held the Generals to only three third quarter points.

Whitehall would enter the fourth quarter trailing by one, but the full court press of Whitehall continued to give Salem fits.

“Our press was good tonight,” Head Coach Paul Gould said. “We did a lot of things that we’ve wanted to do all season long.”

Offensively, Whitehall’s post presence was on display, as forwards Caity Sandford and Beth Jones recorded a team-high 10 points, and Grace Alexander added six points in the paint, coming off the bench.

“No one player stood out to me today, we played really well as a team and improved on a lot of things that we’ve been working on all season,” Gould added. “There were a couple times where we were still a little shaky though.”

Those shaky moments were evident in the waning seconds of the game, when the Railroaders had a few late turnovers and missed some key free throws; but the defense was able to suffocate the Generals’ offense and seal the win.

Malina Morris would lead the way for Salem with a game-high 13 points.

The Railroaders traveled to Argyle (9-6, 10-7) on Friday, looking to build upon the first win of the season, but the Scots had different plans.

Argyle downed Whitehall 47-19, led by a double-double performance from freshman Sam Humiston, in her first varsity start.

Jones led Whitehall in that game with eight points.

Whitehall was scheduled to host Spa Catholic (4-8, 5-11) on Monday, but that game was snowed out and rescheduled for Tuesday evening, after this edition had already gone to press.

Additionally, Whitehall hosted the undefeated Fort Edward Flying Forts for the final game of the regular season on Wednesday night, after this edition had already gone to press.