WCHS Wildcats & Lady Cats are Region Champs, Wildcats are State Bound
The Wayne County High School Wildcats and Lady Cats both claimed Region 6-1A Championships last week. The 'Cats downed Bruceton on Friday and Perry County on Wednesday before defeating McEwen Thursday to claim the crown. The Lady Cats also beat Bruceton in the first round before downing McKenzie on Monday and then winning the Region Championship on Wednesday night. They advanced to the Sub-State on Saturday and were eliminated from play by the Richland Lady Raiders, 50 – 40. The Wildcats also faced Richland in Sub-State action Monday night.
In semi-final action last week, the Lady Cats took care of the Lady Rebels of McKenzie on Monday night. The Lady Cats got off to an 8 - 0 start in the first three minutes of play. They led 22 – 3 at the end of the first quarter and 39 – 9 at the half. The “running clock” win ended with the final score of 62 – 28. Blair Baugus, Presley Daniel, and Emma Bryant all finished in double figures with 21, 17, and 11 points respectively. Baugus had 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 5 assists, while Daniel added 3 boards, 2 steals, and 3 assists. Bryant had 3 rebounds with a steal and 2 assists. Lou Prater scored 9 points with Mary Grace Littleton adding 4. Prater grabbed 5 boards with a steal and had 2 assists. Littleton had a rebound and an assist. Ava Ashley didn't score but had 6 rebounds, a block, a steal, and 3 assists. Adaline Odle had a rebound, as the Lady Cats owned the boards, 28 – 13.
The Wildcats faced Perry County last Wednesday afternoon for a chance to advance to the region finals and a sub-state berth on Monday night. The Wildcats jumped on top of the Vikings, 21 – 4, after one quarter. The Vikings got on track in the second, but only cut the margin by 2 points, to trail 37 – 22 at the half. In the third, they narrowed the margin by 8, but the 'Cats were solid at the foul line down the stretch, going 18 of 20, to take the win, 63 – 52. Cayman Camfield led the scoring with 23 points. He was 10 of 10 from the line and had 4 boards, a steal, and 3 assists. Sayler Skelton added 14 points with 8 rebounds, and Will Robertson had 12 points with 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Logan Davis scored 10 points and had 2 boards, a steal, and 2 assists. Justice Bell had 4 points with 5 boards and 2 assists. Nate Bevis had a rebound.
Wednesday night, the Lady Cats took on the McEwen Lady Warriors in the Region Championship game. They got off to a slow start, trailing 13 – 11 at the end of the first quarter. They stormed back as Blair Baugus went to work, scoring 10 in the second, to put the Lady Cats on top 31 – 21. Lou Prater hit for 10 in the third, and the WCHS ladies took the title, 63 – 38. Baugus finished with 24 on the night, followed by Prater's 20. Blair had 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, a steal, and 3 assists. Prater had rebounds, a block, a steal, and an assist. Emma Bryant finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds and an assist. Presley Daniel scored 6 points and had 4 rebounds, a block, and 4 assists. Ava Asley scored 4 points and had 3 boards, a block, a steal, and 3 assists. Mary-Grace Littleton and Shylynn Smith each had a rebound. The Lady Cats shot 67.7% from the field and 88.9% from the foul line.
Thursday night, the Wildcats faced off with the McEwen Warriors for the Regional Championship and a home sub-state appearance. The Wildcats took an early 17 – 9 lead after one quarter and then went on a 13 – 6 run to begin the first four minutes of the second quarter to lead 30 – 15. McEwen went on a run of their own, 10 – 2, to trail 32 – 25 at the half. The Warriors cut the margin to 3, 38 – 35, with 4:14 left in the third, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Justice Bell put the 'Cats up and they led 52 – 46 at the end of the quarter. Bell opened the fourth with another 3 to make it a 9-point margin, and then upped the margin to 12, 58 – 46, with his 5th three-pointer in the half. McEwen cut it down to 6 with 1:55 left but got no closer as the 'Cats advanced to host Richland on Monday, 70 – 61. Cayman Camfield hit for 22 points on the night, including 5 first half three-point goals. He also had 5 boards. Justice Bell scored 17 points, hitting 5 three-pointers in the second half, and had 4 rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Sayler Skelton scored 14 points and had 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist. Will Robertson had 9 points with a rebound and an assist, and Logan Davis had 8 points a rebound, a steal, and 4 assists. Nate Bevis had a rebound. The 'Cats hit 11 of 19 from three and went 9 - 11 from the foul line in the win.
The Richland Lady Raiders came to Waynesboro on Saturday night to face the Lady Wildcats, who were looking for their fourth consecutive State Tourney appearance. The Lady Cats fell behind early as they trailed 10 – 7 at the end of the first quarter. An Ava Ashley 3 in the second put the Lady Cats on top, 13 – 12. Richland came back and took the 19 – 17 halftime lead. The WCHS Lady Cats fell behind again in the third, trailing 32 – 24 at the break. A Presley Daniel steal with 2:57 left in the game gave the Lady Cats the ball, down 7. Blair Baugus hit 2 free throws to make the margin 5. A Richland turnover and an Ava Ashley 3-pointer cut it to 2, 40 – 38, with 2:34 left. Richland hit 12 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter as the Lady Cats tried to foul to gain possession. Their season ended with a 50 – 40 lost to the Lady Raiders. Sophomore Ava Ashley led the Lady Cats with 12 points. She had 2 three-pointers and was 4 of 4 from the line. She had a team high 8 rebounds with a block and an assist. Blair Baugus hit for 9 points, going 7 of 10 from the foul line, and had 5 rebounds and an assist. Presley Daniel and Lou Prater each scored 8 points. Daniel had 3 rebounds, a steal and 2 assists, while Prater had 1 rebound and a steal. Emma Bryant had 3 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists. Kaybree Carroll had a rebound. The Lady Cats shot 25% from the field and were out-rebounded 26 – 22. They ended the season with a 30 – 4 record.
The Wildcats played Richland Monday night at home and defeated the Raiders 49 - 43 to earn the first State Tournament appearance since the 2010 season. “GO WILDCATS!” “THANK YOU, LADY CATS” for another successful season!
---Submitted by Susan Gallian
Photos Courtesy of
Heather Warren and
Susan Gallian
