The Wildcats and Ladycats of WCHS both suffered losses last Tuesday night against the Eagles and Lady Eagles of Summertown. On Friday night, the teams hosted county rivals Collinwood. The Ladycats suffered their second loss of the season to the Trojanettes, but the Wildcats picked up a big district win. On Saturday, the Ladycats traveled to Hampshire to face the Lady Hawks, and suffered their third loss of the week. The Hawks were quarantined due to COVID-19, so the Wildcats didn’t get the opportunity to play. The Ladycats now fall to 6 – 3 on the year, while the ‘Cats are now 3 – 6. The teams played at Linden on Tuesday this week, before traveling to Loretto on Friday night.
Against the Lady Eagles, the Ladycats got off to a slow start, turning the ball over numerous times. Summertown began the game on a 10 – 2 run. The Ladycats trailed 28 – 13 at the end of the first quarter. The margin grew to 42 – 20 by the half. Summertown went on a 13 – 0 run to begin the second half and went on to soundly defeat the Ladycats, 75 – 32.
Michaela Gallian led the Ladycats in scoring with 9 points, all in the first quarter. She had 6 rebounds. Lauren Bryant and Savanna McClain each scored 7 points. Bryant had 3 rebounds and an assist, while McClain had 8 boards and 2 assists. Jac Keaton and Charlie Woodside each scored 3 points. Keaton had a rebound, a steal, and an assist, while Woodside had an assist. Bailey Kilburn hit 2 free throws, and Kylee Brewer had one. Brewer had 2 boards, and Kelsey Carroll had one and a steal. Annie Lee had 2 assists. The Ladycats shot only 32.3% from the field, and committed 28 turnovers in the contest.
The Wildcats fell behind 15 – 6 by the end of the first quarter, and the margin increased to 33 – 21 by the half. The ‘Cats kept pace in the third, but couldn’t cut into the margin. Summertown finished strong, taking the win, 72 – 49. Landyn Prater and Clay Baugus led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 and 13 points respectively. Prater had 3 boards, a block, 3 steals, and an assist, while Baugus had 2 rebounds, a block, and an assist. Tyler Moser scored 7 points and had 8 rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Eli McClain came off the bench to score 5 points and had a rebound and 2 assists. Jesse Dixon scored 3 points, and Ethan Camfield, Austin Whitson, and Preston Stegall each hit for 2 points. Camfield had a steal and an assist, while Whitson had 3 boards and an assist. Dawson Willis had a rebound. The ‘Cats shot 39.1% from the field and committed 19 turnovers. They were out rebounded 30 – 20.
The Ladycats opened the game against Collinwood going on a 7 – 0 run, but then fell behind, 10 – 9, by the end of the first quarter. The margin grew, and they trailed 26 – 19 by the half. They were outscored 15 – 9 in the third. In the fourth quarter, the Ladycats made a run, cutting into the lead. Once a 10 point margin, was cut to 7, 47 – 40, as Kelsey Carroll hit 2 free throws. An Annie Lee three-pointer made the score 51 – 45 with 34.2 seconds left. Collinwood hit one free throw, and Lauren Bryant hit to make it 47 – 52 with 24.2 seconds left. With 10.2 seconds left, Bryant went to the line and hit two free ones to make it a 3 point margin. Collinwood again hit one of two, so the lead went to four, 53 – 49. Kelsey Carroll hit two more free throws, cutting it to 2, 53 – 51. Bryant scored 11 in the fourth. The Ladycats got the ball back but committed a turnover trying to get off a last second shot. The Ladycats fell 53 – 51.
Lauren Bryant led the Ladycats with 17 points on the night. She was 9 of 11 from the foul line and had 5 rebounds, a steal, and 3 assists. Jac Keaton and Kelsey Carroll each scored 8 points, while Charlie Woodside had 6. Keaton had 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist. Carroll had 6 boards. Savanna McClain, Michaela Gallian, and Annie Lee each scored 4 points. McClain had 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists, while Gallian had 3 rebounds. Kylee Brewer had 3 rebounds. The Ladycats shot 31% from the field
Friday night, the ‘Cats took a slim, 10 – 9, first quarter lead against the Trojans of Collinwood. The lead expanded to 39 – 26 by the half. In the third quarter, the Wildcats outscored the Trojans, 17 – 7. Landyn Prater opened the third quarter with a three-pointer. They held on to take the district win, 61 – 50.
Clay Baugus led the ‘Cats in scoring with 22 points. He had a double-double with 10 boards. He also had a block, a steal, and an assist. Tyler Moser and Landyn Prater each scored 15 points. Moser had 9 rebounds with an assist, and Prater hit 3 three-point goals and had 2 steals and 4 assists. Austin Whitson scored 4 points and had 2 rebounds with a block, a steal, and an assist. Ethan Camfield scored 3 points and had 2 assists, and Eli McClain had 2 points and 4 rebounds. Gaynes Keaton had a rebound and an assist. The ‘Cats shot 39% from the field and forced 13 Trojan turnovers.
On Saturday, the Ladycats made an afternoon trip to Hampshire to take on the Lady Hawks. The Ladycats managed to keep pace in the first quarter as the score was tied at 10 all at the end of the period. In the second, they again matched points, with the score tied at 27 at the half, and the Ladycats committing 11 first half turnovers. The third was a defensive struggle as the Ladycats took a 2 pt. lead, 31 – 29, after three periods of action. The Lady Hawks took a 37 – 31 lead with the Ladycats being in foul trouble. A Michaela Gallian basket and two free throws by Savanna McClain made the score 37 – 35 with 3:56 left. Two free throws with 2:29 left by Gallian tied the game at 37 all. A minute later, Jac Keaton hit two free throws to put the Ladycats on top, 39 – 37. Hampshire answered to tie the game at the 1:36 mark. The Ladycats went to the line again, but missed the front of a one and one. They got the ball back, but turned it over to the Lady Hawks, which resulted in a lay-up. The Ladycats turned the ball over the second time in a 20 second time frame and had to foul. Hampshire missed the free throw and the Ladycats got fouled. They made one of 3 to cut the lead to 41 – 40. Hampshire scored again with 9.2 seconds left. The Ladycats had an opportunity on the final play of the game. Trailing 43 – 40, Hampshire inbounded the ball, Michaela Gallian cut in front of the pass to steal it at half-court and heaved a shot that went off the front of the rim. Final score 43 – 40.
Gallian, McClain, and Bryant each scored 11 points in the contest. Gallian had 6 rebounds, a block, and a steal. McClain had a double-double with 11 rebounds, and had 3 steals. Bryant had 3 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assists. Jac Keaton scored 4 points and had 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 assists. Charlie Woodside had a three with 2 rebounds, 5 steals, and an assist. Kelsey Carroll had a steal and a rebound, and Kylee Brewer and Annie Lee each had one board. The Ladycats shot 20% from the field and committed 22 turnovers.
Basketball action continues as the teams travel this week. “GOOD LUCK ‘CATS AND LADYCATS!”—Submitted
