The Newberry girls' basketball team had Whitmire right where they wanted it.

But the ‘Dogs just ran out of steam, and Whitmire took advantage as it rallied for a 67-61 victory last night in Newberry.

The win wrapped up a season sweep for the Wolverines, the first against Newberry in school history according to Whitmire coach and former player Kim Shelton.

The Wolverines have opened the season 4-1 and will be heading to Mid-Carolina Friday to try to avenge their only loss of the season-a two-point defeat Friday at home to the Rebels.

“I'm hoping we go to Mid-Carolina and call it a done deal,” Shelton said. “My personal opinion, we should be 5-0 and I'd tell anyone that. Against Mid-Carolina, we missed our free throws and 20 open layups. I know we missed a lot of free throws, but that's a poor excuse. In a two-point game, the least little thing can make a difference.”

The Bulldogs have opened the season in the opposite direction. They've lost their first four games of the season and face stiff challenges in the next three contests. Newberry will play Great Falls in a home-and-home series tonight and next Tuesday and will travel to Chapin in its final game before the Christmas tournament.

“There's a very high possibility that we could be 0-7 going into Christmas break,” Newberry coach Ronney Hunter said. “Is that what I wanted from our team? No, I wanted us to win some games. We're scoring points, but I don't know if we're not playing defense, or just getting tired.”

Defense brought the ‘Dogs back into last night's game.

The Wolverines held their biggest lead of the night, 38-26 after a putback by Alicia Hall after a missed layup, before Newberry answered.

The Bulldogs cranked up the full-court defensive pressure, and Whitmire's sophomore backcourt wilted as it committed numerous turnovers that led to easy baskets for Newberry.

The ‘Dogs outscored the Wolverines 21-3 during the final four minutes to take a 47-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

“We couldn't get the ball up the court,” Shelton said. “Joycelynn (Hopp) and Lyndie (McDaniel) are both sophomores and learning that they need to set those screens for one another and communicate. Coach Hunter used a great tactic by using that tough man-to-man pressure.”

Shelton made an adjustment, and her team rallied to retake the lead.

Center Kim Geyer became an outlet for the press, and she was able to drive to the basket and get fouled numerous times, including drawing a fourth foul on point guard Whitney Clary with five minutes to play in the game.

Geyer finished the game with 21 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, while both teams had their point guard foul out in the final minutes.

“Geyer had her way under the basket,” Hunter said. “We had position and then wouldn't put a body on her. She was the difference in the game. When we do box her out, we don't jump for the rebound, and we won't get the call for over the back because we're not jumping.”

The Wolverines outscored Newberry 26-14 in fourth quarter.

“The girls that I had on the floor are the ones that have the most desire and the fact that they played so hard to the lead, they got tired,” Hunter said. “What got us in trouble is that they got tired and started reaching. I feel like fatigue just got the best of us.”

Hopp finished with 16 points, including 12 in the first half.

Heather Hawkins finished with nine, while Hall finished with a season-high 10.

Clary led the ‘Dogs with 18 points, but converted just 7-of-18 from the free throw line. Brittany Marshall finished with 17 points after starting the game on the bench. Rebecca Carlson bounced back from an ankle injury to chip in 13 points.