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Archives
01-22-2003
Lady Cats defeat Owlettes in Carthage
LA's Katrina Beechboard, #3, led the Lady Wildcats against Smith County with 21 points at Carthage.
By ASHLEY HUNTER, OCN staff The Owlettes of Smith County aren't exactly hooting anymore after the Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats won a stunning contest against them at Carthage on Tuesday, Jan. 13. The game began with an 11-2 run by the Lady Wildcats, partly thanks to the hot-shooting hand of senior Christen Cates. LA continued to punish for the rest of the first quarter as all of LA's shooters got warmed up and ready to go. At the end of the frame, the score was very much in LA's favor, 25-12. The second quarter was more of the same with Katrina Beechboard and Cates continuing to shoot the ball extremely well. In the period, Livingston once again outscored Smith County, this time to the tune of 16-13. At the halftime break, the score was a very nice, for LA, 41-25. At the beginning of the third quarter, Kasey Baltimore scored a bucket to put LA up 43-25. No one else scored for another two minutes. Then, Smith County's Tara Sleeper broke the silence with a bucket. Although the Smith County team scored a few more in the frame, the Lady Wildcats were a little too much for the Owls, who were playing a little more like Bluebirds. Livingston again outscored the Owlettes, this time to the tune of 12-7. The fourth quarter was, as it always is in games like this, a huge formality. Smith County outscored the Lady Wildcats in a dying, futile effort to rejoin the ball game, 13-8. Livingston Academy ended up with the big district win, 61-45. Smith County was led in scoring by Audrey Goolsby with 20 points. She was followed by Kendra Bayne with 5 points. Tara Sleeper and Monica Chumney each scored 4 points. Beth Burton scored 3 points. Emily Rackey, Rebecca Roberts, Jessica Fagan, and Candice Harper each scored 2 points in the contest. Nicole Clay scored a point to round out Smith County scoring. The loss put Smith County's record to 6-10 overall and 1-5 in district 7-AA play. Livingston Academy was led in scoring by Katrina Beechboard and Christen Cates, with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Kellie Thurman scored 8 points. Danielle Thrasher scored 6 points. Megan Thompson added 4 points for the Lady Wildcats, and Kasey Baltimore had 3 in the win. Livingston Academy Coach Lesley Smith said of the game, "We played really well in the first half. Christen Cates played great in the first half. She had 15 points and played good defense as well. Kristin Hoover and April Handy also had really good games. "We relaxed a little in the second half, but it's a good district road win, and those are a little hard to come by." Livingston Academy's record moved to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in district play. Following a rescheduled game at Cannon County on Monday, Jan. 20, that was supposed to have taken place the previous Friday, but was canceled due to bad weather, and after Tuesday night's game against district rival Upperman, the Lady Cats will play a home contest against the York Institute Dragons of Jamestown on Friday, Jan. 24. The following day, the team will make up a game against Clarkrange that was supposed to have been played the previous Saturday, but was also canceled due to foul weather. Coach Smith said of the upcoming schedule, "It's a really tough stretch for us. Three of the next four games are away and district contests. "We've had a little bit of sickness going through the team, but it's going to be a challenge and we're excited about it."
Cats invade Owls roost, defeat Smith County
Wilson Cates led LA with 18 points against Smith County.
As the first of four consecutive scheduled road games on the Livingston Academy boys basketball schedule, the historically dreaded game against Smith County proved to be yet another boost for the Wildcats' newly found youthful intensity. LA Coach Danny McCoin believes Smith County is always a worthy foe, but are especially tough when playing in Carthage. He said before the game, "We're going to Smith County tomorrow night, and we never play good down there. "I don't know whether it's the crowd or the floor; I don't know. Hopefully we can go down there and change tradition." The Owls looked to remain in the groove of games past against the Wildcats on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Smith County fought tooth and nail through the entire contest, always providing a timely answer to LA scoring spurts. After an 18-9 scoring bonanza, which provided a 32-19 halftime security blanket for Livingston, the gold and black pressed in hard with the fiesty Owls roaring back via a dominating 17-7 third quarter run, trimming down the lead to a shaky 3-point tally. Smith County managed to fight all the way back in the final frame, nabbing a 4-point lead with just two minutes remaining. But Livingston was far from panicked, as Dustin Ferrell scored the biggest pair of his 8 total points, and broke up a 54-54 tie with only 40 seconds remaining. After tacking on two late free-throws, the Cats claimed a tough road win, settling the score, 58-54. Wilson Cates led the Cats with 18 points, followed by Kyle Copeland, who scored 15, and Brandon Matthews, who netted 14 of his own. Ferrell scored 8 points, and Luke Eldridge scored 3. Livingston was scheduled to play Cannon County on Friday, Jan. 17, and Clarkrange the following day, but both were postponed because of the recent transformation of Overton and surrounding counties into literal Eskimo villages, only with more Buicks than canine-drawn sleds. Livingston's game against Cannon County was rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 20, and their contest at Clarkrange has been rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 25. After the Cannon County game on Monday and a trip to Baxter to play the Upperman Bees on Tuesday, Jan. 21, Livingston Academy will host the York Dragons on Friday, Jan. 24.
Overton County News
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