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Archives
2003
Cats claim runner-up spot in Jaycees Tournament By KEVIN BURMEISTER, OCN staff
Lyndon Johnson/OCN staff Kyle Copeland, #12, brings the ball through the Clarkrange defensive alignment in Friday's tournament semi-final win.
After competing in the Papa John's Classic tournament in Bardstown, KY, the Livingston Academy Wildcats played their first game of the annual Jaycees Christmas Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 26. The Wildcats took on Station Camp in the opening round match, and came out white hot, exploding to an 11-1 run to begin the game. After building their 16-point first quarter lead, LA succumbed to their opponent's offense, surrendering the big lead by giving up a 12-2 Station Camp run, narrowing their deficit to 9 points. But by the time the second buzzer sounded, Livingston had once again taken the reigns, steering their way to a 14-point half-time lead. Once they had halved their workload down to a 7-point hole, Station Camp was finally buried for good late in the fourth frame, as the Cats took a 78-69 win. Leading the Wildcats in scoring were Brandon Matthews, with 24, and Kyle Copeland, who scored 22 points. Luke Eldridge scored 17, with freshman Wilson Cates breaking out the Windex, hauling down 10 rebounds along with his 11 points. With the victory, Livingston advanced to the semi-final round where they took on Clarkrange on Friday, Dec. 27. Livingston fully utilized their newly-found momentum, and held Clarkrange to just 3 points in the second quarter. After storing up a 5-point half-time lead, the Cats put the Buffaloes out to pasture in the second half, outscoring them 41-26 during that span. Despite busting their proverbial humps throughout the tournament, the Buffs fell short of defeating the streaking Wildcats, taking the 67-47 drubbing on the chin. Cates led the scoreboard for Livingston, scoring 20 points, followed by Matthews and Copeland, who scored 16 and 11 points, respectively. With the win, the Wildcats went storming into the Saturday, Dec. 28 showdown against Brentwood Academy for the Livingston Jaycees Christmas Tournament championship. Simply put, it wasn't Livingston's day. Their moment in the sun was rained out by storm clouds in the form of the Brentwood Eagles, as the Cats became the hunted, losing 64-40. Despite the tough loss to Brentwood, the Wildcats still maintained the runner-up position in the tournament. The Wildcats will be briefly estranged from basketball until Friday, Jan. 10 when Livingston Academy will host the Blue Devils of Jackson County.
Lady Wildcats
play in pair of tournaments
Dewain E. Peek/OCN staff Christen Cates, #4, puts in a 2-point basket against Kingsport in last week's Jaycees Christmas Tournament.
The presents are all unwrapped. The tree is being hauled off to be picked up by the garbage people. It's about time to ring in the new year and about time to update the Livingston Academy girls basketball tournament action. The Lady Wildcats played in the Third Annual Rick Lange Memorial High School Classic in Farragut on December 20-22. The tournament benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The Lady Cats fared very well in the tournament, taking home the runner-up prize. The first game in the tournament pitted LA against Grundy County. Livingston took an early 23-9 lead in the first quarter. Livingston held the lead throughout the game as if they had insect repellent to keep the Yellow Jackets from stinging. Grundy cut the lead to 10, 35-25, at the half, but that was about as far as they got, as LA took the victory, 66-44. Livingston was led in scoring in the contest by Kellie Thurman with 15 points, and Christen Cates with 14 points. LA moved on to play Coffee County the next day. Coffee County boasts 6' 3" standout Amber Benjamin, who has already signed with Auburn. The game began with an 8-2 run by Coffee County, but at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Cats had tied up the contest, 10-10. The game continued to stay close throughout the second quarter, and at halftime, Coffee County led by 3 at 25-22. The game was still nip and tuck throughout the third period, but Livingston outscored Coffee County to take a 1-point lead going into the final frame. The nail biting continued on up through the fourth quarter, but the game ended just about like the third quarter, it was the Lady Wildcats winning by a point, 57-56. Livingston was led in scoring by Katrina Beechboard, who scored 18 in the victory. Megan Thompson and April Handy scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Following the win against Coffee County, Livingston played in the championship game of the tournament against the host team, Knox-Farragut. Farragut jumped out to an early lead, and led by 13 at the end of the first quarter, 21-8. Farragut was still putting the game away in the second quarter, putting up points left and right. They had a quite large halftime advantage, 43-22. The second half indicated some kind of super pep talk occurred at halftime for LA because they came back in a gargantuan way. A fourth-quarter three by LA's Megan Thompson put the game into overtime. In the extra time, it was more Lady Admirals than LA could handle, as the Lady Cats took the loss, 67-73. Livingston was paced by a stellar performance from senior Christen Cates, who scored 21 in the contest. Next, the Lady Wildcats went home to play in the Jaycees Christmas Tournament on December 26-28. It was "put-em-in-their-place at your own gym" time for LA, and they certainly knew how to do it. The first game that LA saw action in was a day-after-Christmas matchup against the Kingsport Indians. Livingston took off shooting. They went on an 8-0 run to begin the game, starting off with a Thurman three, and moving on to Cates shot, and then another three, this time by Beechboard. Livingston continued to power through and led 17-9 to end the first quarter. Kingsport came back to cut the lead to 5 at the end of the half, 32-27. The Indians cut it to 3 to begin quarter number 3, but that was as close as they got, as it was time for another episode of the Livingston Academy show, where they outscored Kingsport 26-10 to finish off the third frame. In the fourth quarter, LA popped them from outside the arc, with Beechboard, Baltimore, Clinard, and Medley all stepping up to hit big buckets. Medley hit two of them in the last frame. The final score looked pretty pitiful for Kingsport, with the Lady Cats taking the victory 82-57. Livingston was led in scoring by Katrina Beechboard with 25 points, including three 3-point baskets. The next game in the tournament for the Lady Wildcats was played against a very fast team from Oliver Springs, not fast enough for LA, though. In the first quarter, Livingston outscored the Lady Bobcats by 15, to take a 26-11 lead to end the first period. LA continued to lead Oliver Springs throughout the second period, but a long three by Oliver Springs cut the Livingston lead down to 9 at 34-25 at halftime. Oliver Springs even came back to tie the score at 41, with 2 minutes to play in the third quarter, but the rest of the game was LA pulling away with the game and taking the victory, 62-52. Livingston was once again led in scoring by Katrina Beechboard, who put in 26 for the Wildcats. In LA's final game of the tournament, the Lady Wildcats were pitted against the Lady Buffaloes of Clarkrange. The Lady Cats jumped out to an early lead and dominated through the first half. LA led 27-9 to end the first quarter. They kept right on going to lead the Lady Buffaloes by 20 at halftime, 39-19, The Lady Cats continued to make them look like buffalo wings for the rest of the game as Beechboard eclipsed the 1,000-point mark and LA eclipsed the victory, 65-51. Beechboard once again put in 26 points to lead the Wildcats in scoring. Cates scored 11, and Thompson scored 10 in the win. Lady Wildcats Coach Lesley Smith said of the tournaments, "We came out 5-1, we're really happy with it, except for losing the JDRF tournament. "We played a lot of good teams and were pleased to be able to beat Coffee County, which is a really good team, as well as Oliver Springs, and Clarkrange. "Katrina hit her 1,000-point mark, and that's quite a milestone for any player." Livingston next sees action on Jan. 10 at home against Jackson County. Game time is 6:30 p.m. Coach Smith said, "Jackson County is always a pretty tough team, we'll just have to try our hardest and play good basketball."
Overton County News
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