WEST CARROLLTON — Sidney drove in from the left on several possessions and drove in from the right a few times in the second half on Wednesday.

But mostly, the Yellow Jackets drove straight at West Carrollton. It’s been a hallmark of the squad the last five years. The Pirates, who drove well themselves in the first half, couldn’t match Sidney late.

Sidney pulled away to a 44-35 win in a Miami Valley League game. It was a bounce-back win for the Yellow Jackets, which had a five-game winning streak broken in a 52-41 loss at Stebbins on Saturday.

“That was a tough loss for us. We hadn’t lost to Stebbins in the last five years,” Sidney senior guard Kiara Hudgins, who scored a game-high 18 points, said. “It’s good to get a good win like this.”

Larkyn Vordemark added 16 points and Kelis McNeal finished with seven.

Vordemark and Hudgins drove through West Carrollton in the second half; they scored all of the Yellow Jackets’ points during a dominating third quarter in which they outscored the Pirates 16-4. Vordemark had scored four in the first half but was more aggressive in the second.

“I knew I had to pick it up for my teammates,” Vordemark said. “I’ve been struggled the past few games, so it was my time to step up.”

Both Hudgins and Vordemark said practices this week (especially Monday) were rough after Saturday’s loss.

“We knew coming in it was going to be hard, and we had to fight through and go through it to be a better team,” Vordemark said. “Coming out and practicing hard, it would show what the rest of the season has in store for us.

“… (Saturday) showed us that we’re not invincible. We have to fight for every win we have.”

Sidney coach Jamal Foster said he was pleased to see that fight on Wednesday.

“There are some things we’d like to get back, but at the end of the day, it’s not the end of the season,” Foster said. “We wanted to be able to regroup, break through and not break down. I felt like we needed to respond, and they responded today, because (West Carrollton) is a good team.

“We’ve still got some tough games down the stretch we’ve got circled. The goal is still to cut the nets, and beyond.”

Sidney (14-4, 12-2) has a one-game lead in overall MVL standings. Tippecanoe (11-5, 10-3) is in sole possession of second after beating Stebbins (10-6, 10-4) 41-23 on Wednesday. West Carrollton dropped to 10-6 overall and 10-4 in MVL play with Wednesday’s loss.

The Yellow Jackets scored the first five points, and the teams traded baskets after that to a 12-7 score by the end of the first quarter. West Carrollton senior guard Selena Frost was scoreless in the first quarter, but she scored seven points in the second to help the Pirates amass a 14-9 scoring edge, which tied it 21-21 at halftime.

The Yellow Jackets dominated the second half. Vordemark scored 10 points in the third quarter and Hudgins scored six to give Sidney a 37-25 lead. West Carrollton didn’t pull any closer than nine points in the rest of the way. The Pirates penetrated well in the first half but struggled in the second half; few of its long-range or close-range shots fell.

Vordemark scored 12 points in the second half, and Hudgins scored 11.

“We really picked our energy up, and our shots started falling,” Hudgins said of the second half domination. “Once our shots started falling, we all just get going, get our energy higher.”

Frost has surpassed Sidney’s Jordan Scully as the scoring leader in the MVL in recent weeks and finished with 16, one below her average. The rest of the squad struggled to score in the second half; other players accounted for two other field goals and a total of five points in the half.

“Kelis and I caught Frost to make sure she can’t get open, because without her, they can’t do much,” Hudgins said. “We tried to get the tall girl (Karen Kodi) out of (the post).”

It was a team effort in the second half defensively according to Foster, but he gave praise to McNeal and junior forward Kendall Dickman for helping contain Kodi and the Pirates in the post, and for helping rebound.

“I think (Dickman) accepts her assignment, goes out there and does all the things outside of scoring,” Foster said. “She checks all the things off that aren’t really glorious stats. But her maturity in how to guard the post, you really can’t take that type of stuff for granted. She’s really gotten better from the beginning of the year to the end of the year at anchoring those type of posts where she may give up a little size or a little quickness, but she figures it out.

“… Kelis is a jack of all trades. We put her on Frost, we put her everywhere, because we’re confident she can shut the other the team down.”

He credited both Vordemark and Hudgins, who are multiple-year starters, for leading the charge in the second half. Vordemark didn’t reach double figures for the first time in six games on Saturday.

“She can score,” Foster said of Vordemark. “Sometimes, it’s more about finding the shots and where she can get into a rhythm from, but once she sees one go in, more follow.

“… You never have to worry about Ki giving it her all. In games like this, against a competitor like Selena Frost, when they’ve been competing for so long, you knew (Hudgins) was going to bring her best on both ends of the floor. It was good to see her setting the tempo on offense and defense.”

Sidney is scheduled to host Fairborn (0-16, 0-13) on Saturday.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.