The Wayne County High School Wildcats and Ladycats continued basketball action this past week as they traveled to Loretto on Tuesday night and then to Clifton Friday. The teams found the going rough at Loretto, as both teams lost by wide margins. On Friday night, things went much better, with the Ladycats getting a decisive win over the Lady Lions, and the Wildcats avenging an earlier loss to the Lions. The ‘Cats now stand at 4 – 14 on the season and 1 – 5 in district play. The Ladycats improve to 10 – 7 on the year, with a 2 – 4 district mark. The teams travel again this week as they begin on Tuesday with a trip to Summertown, then go to Collinwood on Friday and Perry County on Tuesday, February 4th.
Against the Lady Mustangs on Tuesday, the Ladycats got off to a rocky start, managing only 7 first quarter points while committing 14 first quarter turnovers. They trailed 21 – 7 at the end of one. The halftime margin grew to 18 at 37 – 19, despite 8 second quarter points by Michaela Gallian. Loretto turned up the full court press defense and scoring on turnovers in the third, hitting for 30 while holding the Ladycats to just 8, en route to a 75 – 36 win.
Gallian finished with 14 points to lead the Ladycats on the night. She had 5 rebounds and an assist. Lauren Bryant came off the bench to add 7 points and had a rebound and an assist. Cambree Camfield scored 5 points and had 3 rebounds and a steal. Lexie Lee scored 4 points and had 3 rebounds and an assist, and Kelley Baugus, Bailey Kilburn, and Savanna McClain each scored 2 points. Baugus had a steal and 2 assists, while McClain had 4 boards and an assist. Charli Woodside had an assist. The Ladycats finished the game with 30 turnovers as Loretto came up with 20 steals.
The Wildcats managed only 24 points on the night against the Mustangs. They trailed 37 – 19 at the half and went on to suffer a 62 – 24 loss. No Wildcat player hit for double figures. They were led by Clay Baugus with 9 points. He had 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Freshman Austin Whitson came off the bench to add 5 points and grab a pair of rebounds. Tyler Moser scored 4 points and had 2 rebounds and an assist, and Ethan Camfield had 3 points with 2 rebounds. Wyatt Kelley had 2 points with 3 rebounds, a block, and an assist, and Adam Goss scored one point and had 2 rebounds, a block, a steal, and an assist. Cade Crews had a rebound and a block, while Eli McClain claimed 2 rebounds and had a block and an assist. Braxton Butler had 2 rebounds and an assist. The Wildcats were outrebounded 43 – 20 on the night and hit only 23% from the field and 25% from the foul line.
The Ladycats built a slim 11 – 5 lead at the end of the first period against the Lady Lions of Frank Hughes, but expanded it to 34 – 13 by the half. They went on to take a 66-28 win with all the Ladycats players seeing action. Junior Charli Woodside hit 4 three point goals for 12 points to lead the Ladycats. She had a rebound, a block, and an assist. Savanna McClain added 9 points, with 4 boards, a steal, and an assist. Kelley Baugus and Michaela Gallian each scored 8. Baugus had 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, a steal, and 5 assists, and Gallian had 2 rebounds and an assist. Lauren Bryant scored 7 points and had 2 rebounds and an assist, and Henley Floyd and Cambree Camfield each hit 2 three’s for 6 points apiece. Floyd had a rebound and 2 assists, while Camfield had a rebound and a steal. Freshmen Bailey Kilburn and Cimmie Willis each hit a 3. Willis also had a rebound. Lexie Lee and Kelsey Carroll scored 2 points each. Lee had a rebound and 2 assists. Jamie Lauren Hickman had a rebound and an assist, while Allie Hill had a rebound, Annie Lee had a steal, and Lauren Prater had an assist. The Ladycats shot 50% from the field, 90% from the foul line, and had only 9 turnovers on the night.
The Wildcats fell behind 12 – 8 in the first period of action against the Frank Hughes Lions on Friday night. A three-point play by Tyler Moser put the ‘Cats up 13 – 12 at the 6:33 mark of the second. They went on to take a 24 – 21 halftime lead. The margin increased to 31 – 23 after three quarters of action, but the Lions came fighting back. The ‘Cats went up by eleven early in the fourth, but the Lions fought back to cut the margin to 44 – 40 with 1:25 left in the game. The Wildcats left the door open for the Lions as they went to the foul line, missing 3 free throws in the next 30 seconds. Frank Hughes closed the margin to 3, 45 – 42 with forty seconds left. Frank Hughes was unable to hit their shots and they then begin to foul. They sent the Wildcats’ Cade Crews to the line on 3 straight occasions, and he hit 6 straight free throws to seal the win. Final score was 51-42.
Clay Baugus led the Wildcats with 26 points. He also had 10 rebounds, a steal, and 2 assists. Tyler Moser finished with 11 points and had 7 boards, and Cade Crews and Adam Goss each scored 6 points. Crews also had 10 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. Goss had 3 rebounds, with a block and an assist. Wyatt Kelley had 2 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Ethan Camfield had 2 rebounds, and Austin Whitson had one. The ‘Cats also won the rebounding battle, 40 – 31, on the night.
Follow the teams on the road as they play district action and work for seating in the upcoming tourney. “GO WILDCATS AND LADYCATS!”—Submitted
