Lady ’Cats drop season opener
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
BAINBRIDGE — The season opener for the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats didn’t go as planned, falling to the Batavia Lady Bulldogs in non-conference play by a 59-32 score at the Paint Valley Lady ’Cats Classic.
The game didn’t have much scoring in the opening frame of the season, as both teams combined for 16 points after eight minutes of play. WHS trailed by a 10-6 score, and by the time the end of the first half rolled around, they were down by a 26-13 score.
WHS (0-1) scored the first points of the game with a steal and layup by Maggie Carr at the 7:28 mark of the opening frame. That was the last WHS field goal until the clock read 2:38 following a layup by Lexi Jones, who was voted the WHS Player of the Game.
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In between those two buckets, the Lady ’Cats did have two free throws made by Cylee Bratton for the six WHS points of the first quarter.
“Lexi played a good ball game for us,” WHS head coach Randy Abbott said. “We had too many breakdowns on defense. We’ve got to do a better job defensively. Some of our younger kids came in and played well, I felt like, and played hard. I felt like our overall effort was better. We’ve just got to execute better.”
The second quarter didn’t fare so well for WHS either as they were outscored, 16-7 with WHS having points from Jones and Carr in the quarter. Jones had a two-point basket and one free throw, while Carr sank two baskets in the same quarter.
“We had probably 10 easy shots in the first half that just didn’t fall,” Abbott said. “If you take those layups, there’s 20 points. We had open cutters. We’ve just got to recognize them quicker. There’s that window of opportunity, and we’ve got to be ready. It seemed like the first half, every loose ball, every shot fell their way.”
Trailing by 13 points entering the third quarter, the Lady ’Cats had their best offensive quarter by adding 11 to their side of the home scoreboard. The problem was they allowed Batavia to score 17 points in the third, ending the frame down, 43-24.
In that third frame, the highlight was Morgan Thompson sinking a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left on the scoreboard, while Carr totaled five points and Kensley Bailey added three points in the third.
The final eight minutes of play saw WHS score just eight points, with Carr and Chelsea Chisman each having four points in the fourth quarter.
For the game, Carr led WHS with 15 points. Next was Jones with five and Bratton wth four. Batavia was led by Maggie Mehlman with 22 points, including three 3-pointers.
“Next we play West Union Thursday at their place, so we’re going to go back in Monday and prepare and come out and play hard,” Abbott said.
The game didn’t have much scoring in the opening frame of the season, as both teams combined for 16 points after eight minutes of play. WHS trailed by a 10-6 score, and by the time the end of the first half rolled around, they were down by a 26-13 score.
WHS (0-1) scored the first points of the game with a steal and layup by Maggie Carr at the 7:28 mark of the opening frame. That was the last WHS field goal until the clock read 2:38 following a layup by Lexi Jones, who was voted the WHS Player of the Game.
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In between those two buckets, the Lady ’Cats did have two free throws made by Cylee Bratton for the six WHS points of the first quarter.
“Lexi played a good ball game for us,” WHS head coach Randy Abbott said. “We had too many breakdowns on defense. We’ve got to do a better job defensively. Some of our younger kids came in and played well, I felt like, and played hard. I felt like our overall effort was better. We’ve just got to execute better.”
The second quarter didn’t fare so well for WHS either as they were outscored, 16-7 with WHS having points from Jones and Carr in the quarter. Jones had a two-point basket and one free throw, while Carr sank two baskets in the same quarter.
“We had probably 10 easy shots in the first half that just didn’t fall,” Abbott said. “If you take those layups, there’s 20 points. We had open cutters. We’ve just got to recognize them quicker. There’s that window of opportunity, and we’ve got to be ready. It seemed like the first half, every loose ball, every shot fell their way.”
Trailing by 13 points entering the third quarter, the Lady ’Cats had their best offensive quarter by adding 11 to their side of the home scoreboard. The problem was they allowed Batavia to score 17 points in the third, ending the frame down, 43-24.
In that third frame, the highlight was Morgan Thompson sinking a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left on the scoreboard, while Carr totaled five points and Kensley Bailey added three points in the third.
The final eight minutes of play saw WHS score just eight points, with Carr and Chelsea Chisman each having four points in the fourth quarter.
For the game, Carr led WHS with 15 points. Next was Jones with five and Bratton wth four. Batavia was led by Maggie Mehlman with 22 points, including three 3-pointers.
“Next we play West Union Thursday at their place, so we’re going to go back in Monday and prepare and come out and play hard,” Abbott said.