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Archives 12-1-99 Sports
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Picture: Jerran Allen, #21, led all scoring in the Wildcats game against Notre Dame with 23 points. Allen also led in scoring the previous night with 17 points. (photo by Dewain E. Peek)
The 1999 Livingston Academy Wildcats basketball team opened the season with a win in the Pickett County Thanksgiving Classic on Friday, Nov. 26. LA Wildcats Coach Danny McCoin was elated, saying, "I was pleased. I was tickled that we won. "We played our kind of basketball. We played smart. We executed the game plan that we needed to execute to win the game. "It impressed me because we really hadn't looked that good. Of course, we've been playing real good competition in our scrimmage games. We played six and we didn't play one slouch." Sticking to the game plan was tough in the first half with Meigs County leading 15-10 at the end of the first period, then leading 25-21 at the half. The ÔCats got hot in the third period, outscoring Meigs 19-9 to take a 40-34 lead by the end of the quarter. Even scoring marked the fourth period, with each team scoring 14 points, to give LA a 54-48 win. "We shot better than what I expected, scoring wise," Coach McCoin said. "I don't think we ever let up. The effort and the hustle was there for four quarters." Jerran Allen led LA in scoring with 17 points, including a free throw. David Stockton scored 14 points, including 4 free throws, and Andy Allred scored in double figures with 10, including 2 free throws. Chris Everley scored 9 points, including a 3-pointer and 2 free throws, and Matthan Houser scored 4 points. Houser led in assists with 4, followed by Allen with 2, and Everley and Andy Beechboard each with an assist. David Stockton completed a double-double by leading in rebounds with 12. Andy Allred had 7 rebounds, Everley 5, Allen and Houser 3 each, Beechboard 2, and Jeff Aldridge 1. Everley led in steals with 5, followed by Houser with 4, Allen and Allred 3 each, and Beechboard 1. Allred, Houser, and Allen each blocked a shot. Meigs County's Ryan Mincey led all scorers with 19 points, including two 3-pointers and 5 free throws. Michael Borin also scored in double figures for Meigs with 10 points. The following night, LA faced the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. No, not that Notre Dame, Chattanooga-Notre Dame. "The next night, I was probably more pleased than the first night except for one thing, we lost. That's the only thing," Coach McCoin said. "After Notre Dame beat Pickett County, and I've got Pickett County rated as one of the better teams, I mean I've got them pretty high on the chart, I was a little bit nervous going into that game." The Wildcats outscored Notre Dame 15-9 in the first period and a Jeff Aldridge basket at the buzzer gave LA a 32-22 lead at half-time. The Livingston defensive pressure kept the fight out of the Irish, holding them to 27 percent shooting in the first half. "We executed the game plan. We got them playing our kind of ball. They were run and gun, shoot, throw down defense, and we got them playing the kind of ball we want to play, Coach McCoin said. Notre Dame outscored Livingston 18-14 in the third period to narrow the lead to 40-46. "We maintained the lead most of the way, shot real well," Coach McCoin said. "We went on one little spurt in the fourth quarter where we went cold and they got hot. That got the game close and got them back in it, and that was probably the difference in the game." The Irish whittled the LA lead down to a single point with 5:47 left to play, then took the lead away at the 4:21 mark. Jerran Allen nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 55, then after a go-ahead shot by Notre Dame, Allen again tied the game at 57 with a basket. Though the ÔCats refused to give in, Notre Dame wouldn't be denied, holding on to win 66-62 over LA. "We probably made a few more turnovers against Notre Dame because they pressed more," Coach McCoin said. "They were better athletes. That was a good ballclub. "We executed our plan, we shot well, the scoring was real balanced. The defense against Notre Dame was probably better than against Meigs County, we got a lot of steals, we got a lot of hands on the ball. That's all we can do is just hustle. "We didn't give up that game. We didn't go through a spell where we panicked. I told the kids at half-time that they're going to make a run, be ready, and they did, and our kids kept their composure. There was a time there where we could have folded up and packed it in, we didn't. We came right back and got the game back in hand. I was real pleased with that." Alvah Beasley led Notre Dame in scoring with 20 points, including a 3-pointer and a perfect 12 of 12 on free throws. Justin Jones recorded a double-double for the Fighting Irish with 18 points and 14 rebounds. LA's Jerran Allen led in scoring with 23 points, including three 3-pointers and 2 free throws. Andy Allred scored 12 points, followed by Chris Everley with 11 points, including a 3-pointer, and David Stockton scored 10 points, including 2 free throws. Jeff Aldridge added 4 points for LA, and Matthan Houser 2. Everley led in assists with 6, followed by Houser with 4, Allred, Stockton, and Allen with 3 each, and Aldridge made an assist. David Stockton again recorded a double-double by leading LA in rebounds with 11. Allred had 5 rebounds, Houser and Allen 4 each, Everley 2, and Aldridge 1. Allen and Everley each had 5 steals, and Stockton, Houser, Allred, and Beechboard each had a steal. Allen also blocked a shot. The Wildcats will next play host to the York Institute Dragons on Friday, Dec. 3 in the first district action of the year. "They're athletic," Coach McCoin said of the Dragons. "They're going to try to play us up tempo. They're going to try to press us, get us in a run and gun game. We're not going to want to do that. We've got to maintain our composure, play our type of ball and slow it down, make them take the shots we want them to take. We've got to make them shoot outside. "If we just play smart offense, we're going to be all right." The Wildcats will travel to Cookeville on Tuesday, Dec. 7 to take on the Cavaliers. Lady Cats Win
Two
Picture: Livingston Academy sophomore Renee Melton, #5, goes in for 2 of her 8 points against Boyd Christian in SaturdayÕs 73-28 Lady Wildcats win. (photo by Dewain E. Peek)
The defending state champion Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start for the 1999-2000 season with two wins in the Pickett County Thanksgiving Classic. The Lady ÔCats took on the White County Warriorettes on Friday, Nov. 26. The LA defense held White County to 5 points in the first period, while the LA offensive game added 10. The Lady ÔCats extended the lead to 26-17 at half-time. Even scoring moved the score to 37-28 at the end of the third period. White County made a surge in the fourth period, outscoring LA 23-19, but not enough. Livingston claimed the victory 56-51. Lady Wildcats Coach Eddie Linder said of the game, "I was very pleased. Any time you get a win, regardless of the point spread, you're happy. "White County has a very solid basketball team. They are not what they have been in the past, but they still have a lot of tradition and any time you can show up and beat the White County girls in a basketball game you've accomplished something. "We're young, inexperienced on the high school level right now, although these girls have played a lot of basketball. I was really concerned about our effort. It was tremendous. I was more happy that they played hard. They hustled and they showed a lot of guts and intensity. I feel like if we keep that up, we've got the chance of having a good ballteam before the year's over." Four Lady ÔCats scored in double figures, led by Jenna Baltimore with 17 points, including a 3-pointer and 12 of 14 on free throws. Jessica Leach scored 11 points, including 7 free throws, and Andrea Brown and Stephanie Sullivan each scored 10 points, Brown hitting a 3-pointer and a free throw. Joie Puckett scored 5 points, including 3 free throws, and Renee Melton hit 3 free throws. Puckett led in assists with 4, followed by Leach and Baltimore with 2 each, and Brown also made an assist. Andrea Brown completed a double-double by leading in rebounds with 11. Sullivan had 6 rebounds, Leach 3, and Puckett and Melton each had a rebound. Baltimore led in steals with 3, followed by Leach with 2, and Sullivan and Puckett with 1 each. Sullivan blocked 2 shots and Baltimore blocked a shot. The following evening's game placed the Lady ÔCats against Boyd Christian School Broncos. LA raced to a 26-5 first period score and led 46-11 at half-time. The starters were removed for the second half and every Lady Wildcat player saw time on the floor before the game came to a 73-38 end. "It's nice when a lot of the kids on the team get to see the floor. It was one of those nights," Coach Linder said. "Boyd Christian was no powerhouse, by no means, but I think our girls still showed up. Like I tell them, you've got to treat each game as nobody's any different and really play hard, and they did that. "I was pleased with the effort again. We got a lot of kids in and any time you can get people in and get them extra minutes it might help you down the road." LA's Stephanie Sullivan led all scorers with 22 points, including 2 free throws. Andrea Brown scored 13 points, including two 3-pointers and a free throw, and Jenna Baltimore also scored in double figures with 11 points, including a 3-pointer. Also scoring for LA were Joie Puckett with 9 points, including a 3-pointer and 6 of 6 on free throws, Renee Melton with 8 points, including 2 free throws, Amanda Jackson and Christen Cates with 4 points each, and Jessica Leach with 2 points. Brown, Baltimore, Leach, and Puckett each made 3 assists, Jackson made 2, and Melton made an assist. Brown led LA in rebounds with 6, followed by Leach and Jackson with 4 each, Sullivan and Melton with 3 each, Cates with 2, and Baltimore and Heather Walker with 1 each. Andrea Brown dominated on take-aways with 7 steals. Leach, Puckett, and Jackson had 3 steals each, Sullivan 2, and Baltimore, Walker, Cates, and Deidra Pryor each had a steal. Brown and Sullivan each blocked a shot. The Lady Wildcats will host the York Institute Lady Dragons on Friday, Dec. 3. "It is a very big opening district game," Coach Linder said. "York is one of the more talented and experienced teams around this area. "I'm really concerned with the fact that they do have a lot of age and a lot of experience. They also have a lot of size and a lot of strength. "When you look at us, we're kind of the opposite right now. We'll have to do an outstanding job of rebounding to have a remote chance to beat them. "York was a very good ball team at the end of the year last year. We'll get a pretty doggone tough test early." The Lady 'Cats will travel to Cookeville on Tuesday, Dec. 7 to take on the Cookeville Lady Cavaliers, a team that won the last meeting. "We go from one physical, big strong team to another one," Coach Linder said. "Cookeville has been a very good basketball team the last two or three years. They are picked to win their district in triple-A this year, so that's enough said about their ability to play. Again it's going to be a very tough matchup. "The season's young. I hope we can go down there and have a shot at them. If we play hard and don't make a lot of mental mistakes, I believe we'll have a chance in the game. "It's going to be a tough task to go down there and beat them on their floor. It's a tough game for anybody who plays Cooke-ville right now. "It's teams like Cookeville you play on your schedule outside the district that helps you down the road when you have to play these types of teams that are big and physical. It's just a real good test." Stockton Wins State
Air Rifle Match Stockton won with a score of 567. Second place went to Annie Goodman, one of the Tennessee Tech Eagleyes, who scored 564, three points out of first. David Hargis won the air pistol competition with a score of 543 out of 600. Edward Ledbetter placed second with 539. Ernie Weyhrauch of Cookeville took first in the marksman class with 523. Alean Biles of Madison was high lady with 473. The Match Masters from Nashville were the team winner with 1956. The next match will be the Junior Olympic Shooting Championships to be held Saturday, Dec. 4. The championships, open to anyone under the age of 20, will be for small bore and air rifle and air pistol. The high male and high female shooter from each state is invited to Colorado Springs to shoot against the other state winners. For more information contact cpardue@multipro.com, or write to Charlie Pardue, 515 West Broad Street, Cookeville, TN 38501, or call (931) 526-1136. Overton County News
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