Wayne County High School dealt with the icy weather last week by playing basketball three nights in a row. The Santa Fe game at home was played on Wednesday afternoon with the Lady cats taking another easy win. The Wildcats were not so lucky falling to the Santa Fe Wildcats. On Thursday night, the teams hosted Frank Hughes with both coming away with victories. On Friday night, the Hampshire game that was scheduled on the road was canceled. The teams rescheduled the previously postponed Richland in its place at home. The Lady cats secured their 20th win of the year against 4 losses, downing the Lady Raiders, 59 – 22. The ‘Cats held on to take the win, by a one-point margin, 54 – 53, to go to 11 – 10 on the year.
Against Santa Fe, the Lady cats forced 8 first quarter turnovers and led 23 – 10 at the end of the quarter. They upped the lead to 34 – 14 by halftime and went on to take the win, 57 – 26, with all the Lady cat players participating. Savanna McClain and Blair Baugus led in scoring with 16 and 15 points respectively. McClain had 9 rebounds, 7 on the offensive end, with 2 steals and an assist. Baugus was 6 of 8 from the field with 8 rebounds, a block, and 3 steals. Michaela Gallian came off the bench to hit for 8 points and had 4 boards and an assist. Lauren Bryant scored 6 points with 4 rebounds, a steal, and 2 assists. Cambree Camfield scored 5 points and had a rebound, 3 steals, and an assist. Annie Lee scored 3 points. Emma Bryant and Jac Keaton each scored 2 points. Bryant also had a steal, while Keaton had 3 boards, 2 steals, and an assist. Kylee Brewer had 4 rebounds, Kenzie Griggs had a rebound, 2 steals, and an assist, and Isabel Luedeke had 2 rebounds and 2 assists. The Ladycats were cold from long distance, hitting only 1 of 14 attempts. They forced 23 turnovers, scoring 24 points off them.
The WCHS ‘Cats fell behind early against the Wildcats of Santa Fe. A Landyn Prater three at the buzzer made the score 16 – 11 after one quarter. A big third quarter for Santa Fe, with 4 three-pointers in the period, upped the lead to double digits. The ‘Cats fell, 66 – 51. Tyler Moser led in scoring with 21 points. He had 4 boards and 4 assists. Landyn Prater scored 12 points, hitting 4 three-pointers, and had 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist. Justice Bell scored 6 points with 3 rebounds, and Ethan Camfield and Cooper Shamer each had 3 points. Camfield had 3 rebounds, a steal, and 2 assists, while Shamer had 8 boards, a block, a steal, and 2 assists. Jesse Dixon, Eli McClain, and Sayler Skelton each had 2 points. McClain had a rebound and a block, while Skelton had 5 boards. The Wildcats shot only 31% from the field, compared to 48% for the Santa Fe team.
Against the Lady Lions of Frank Hughes on Thursday, the Lady cats forced 10 Lady Lion turnovers to begin the game, going on a 23 – 0 run. They allowed only one basket in the first to lead 23 – 2. The Lady cats came away with a 59 – 14 “mercy rule” win with all the Ladycat players seeing action. Blair Baugus led the Lady cats with 14 points, followed by Michaela Gallian with 10. Baugus had 5 rebounds and 2 steals, while Gallian had 3 rebounds, a block, and an assist. Savanna McClain had 9 points with a rebound, 3 steals, and 3 assists, and Jac Keaton had 8 points with a rebound, 2 steals, and an assist. Lauren Bryant scored 6 points and had 5 assists, and Cambree Camfield had 4 points with 3 steals and 2 assists. Bailey Kilburn and Annie Lee each hit a 3-pointer, and Lee had a steal. Kenzie Griggs scored 2 points and had 2 boards, 2 steals, and an assist. Kylee Brewer had 3 rebounds and a block, and Jamie Lauren Hickman and Emma Bryant each had a rebound. Isabel Luedeke had 3 boards, 2 steals, and a block, and Lauren Prater had 2 assists. The Lady cats shot 56% from the field and forced 23 Lady Lion turnovers leading to 33 points.
In the game between the Lions and Wildcats, the ‘Cats led 17 – 11 at the end of the first quarter. Early in the second period, the Lions hit five straight points to make the margin one, 17 – 16. The Wildcats pulled back out and went on to take the win by 15, 71 – 56. Tyler Moser hit for 29 points in the contest to lead the Wildcats. He registered an impressive double-double with 15 rebounds and had 3 assists. Freshmen Cooper Shamer and Sayler Skelton also hit for double figures with 11 points and 10 points respectively. Shamer had 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists, and Skelton had 5 boards. Justice Bell scored 6 points and had 2 rebounds, a steal, and 5 assists. Eli McClain and Ethan Camfield each had 5 points with McClain having 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist. Camfield had a rebound, a steal, and an assist. Austin Whitson scored 4 points. Ryder Butler had one point with a rebound. Landyn Prater had 2 rebounds, and Preston Stegall had a rebound and a block. The ‘Cats won the rebounding battle 41 – 19 and shot 46.9% from the field.
Against the Lady Raiders of Richland, the WCHS Lady cat press forced 10 first quarter turnovers, leading to a 17 – 3 score by the end of the period. They upped the lead to 31 – 12 by halftime, in route to a 59 – 22 win. Blair Baugus led in scoring with 14 points, 6 rebounds, a block, 2 steals, and an assist. Savanna McClain scored 11 points and had 6 rebounds. Kenzie Griggs came off the bench to score 11 points and had a rebound and a steal. Cambree Camfield hit for 8 points and had 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Michaela Gallian had 4 points with a rebound, and Kylee Brewer, Lauren Bryant, Jac Keaton, Annie Lee, and Isabel Luedeke each scored 2 points. Bryant had 3 boards, a steal, and 3 assists, and Keaton had 2 rebounds, a block, 3 steals, and 4 assists. Lee had 2 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists, and Luedeke had a rebound and a block. Emma Bryant had a rebound, and Lauren Prater had a rebound, a block, and an assist. The Lady cat defense forced 25 turnovers and came away with 26 points off them.
The Wildcats took an 18 – 11 first quarter lead and upped it to 33 – 23 by the half, as Freshman Sayler Skelton scored 13 points in the opening half of action. In the third, the Raiders came firing back, cutting the margin to two at one point. A basket by Tyler Moser with 3.3 seconds left in the quarter made the score 42 – 37. The ‘Cats committed several turnovers in the final quarter and missed 6 free throws down the stretch. With 23.8 seconds left, the ‘Cats made one of two free throws to make the score 54 – 52. The Wildcats were living dangerously as they gave Richland three offensive rebounds on the next possession. With 3.2 seconds left, the ‘Cats put the Raiders on the line. They managed only one of two, closing the score to 54 – 53. The Raiders fouled and the ‘Cats went to the line. They missed both of the free throws, but Eli McClain came up with a big steal on the outlet pass to seal the win, 54 – 53.
Tyler Moser finished with 17 points on the night, with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Freshman Sayler Skelton scored 14 and had a team high 7 boards and an assist. Ethan Camfield and Eli McClain each had 6 points. Camfield grabbed 3 boards and had a pair of assists, while McClain had 4 boards and the big steal to end the game. Landyn Prater also had 6 points with a steal and an assist, and Cooper Shamer had 5 points with 2 rebounds and an assist. Jesse Dixon had a rebound and an assist, and Justice Bell had 2 boards and an assist. The ‘Cats were only 9 of 20 from the foul line and lost the battle of the boards, 28 – 24. The teams travel to Richland Tuesday and return home to face Culleoka on Friday night. Tuesday night, February 1, they play host to Collinwood. Game time is 6:00 p.m. “KEEP WORKING HARD ‘CATS AND LADY CATS!”-
