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Archives
02-05-2003
Lady Cats come up short against Sparta
Dewain E. Peek/OCN staff Whitney Sells takes a shot for Livingston Academy in FridayÕs loss to White CountyÕs Warriorettes.
By ASHLEY HUNTER, OCN staff Following an almost weeklong layoff, the Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats basketball team came back a little rusty against the White County Warriorettes on Friday night, Jan. 31. The Lady Cats lost by a score of 47-43. LA Coach Lesley Smith said of the game, "Sparta is a really good team. We had a little trouble with their size. "I'm really happy with our defensive effort, but we didn't shoot very well." The game began with Livingston jumping out to an early 9-2 lead. White County came back on a 10-2 run to end the quarter, primarily thanks to the hot 3-point shooting hands of three different people on their team. This gave them a 15-11 lead going into the second frame. White County still continued to hold the advantage throughout the second quarter, as neither team really packed a big scoring punch. The only problem for LA was that the Warriorettes were outdoing them not only on the scoring punch, but the type of shots they were throwing up. White County only managed to increase their lead by one point at halftime, as they only had a five-point advantage, 22-17. The third quarter marked a little more soap bucket exchange play, as Livingston managed to tie the score at 25, and then again at 27. It was White County that scored the last two buckets of the quarter, though, to make it a 31-27 advantage going into the final period. Livingston made a surge in the fourth quarter, and managed to take the lead a time or two in the quarter. It was the free throw line that lost the battle for them, though, as LA missed free throws, White County answered with a bushel-basket full of made free throws. A Kellie Thurman 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left put the Lady Cats within 3, but when the horn sounded, it was White County by 4, 47-43. White County was led in scoring by Amanda Lewis, with 13 points. She was followed by April Hickock and Brooke Sunday, with 9 and 7 points, respectively. Allison Cole scored 6 points. Brittany King and Brittany Farley each scored 4 points. Natalie Anderson and Sheila Henry each scored 2 points. Livingston was led in scoring by Katrina Beechboard, with 20 points. She was 4 of 4 from the line, so the streak continues. Beechboard has now hit her last 16 free throws. Kellie Thurman scored 10 points in the contest. Kasey Baltimore scored 6, Christen Cates scored 4, Danielle Thrasher scored 2, and Megan Thompson scored 1 to round out LA's offensive output. Livingston's record currently stands at 15-6 overall, and at 7-1 in the district. The Cats face a tough schedule this week. Following games at home on Monday, Feb. 2 and Tuesday, Feb. 3 against Cumberland County and Smith County, the team travels to DeKalb County on Friday, Feb. 7 and then comes home the next day to try to make it 3 for 3 against Clarkrange. Coach Smith said of the schedule, "It's going to be a really tough week for us. We have two non-district games against great teams. "I'm afraid that they'll consume us a little more than the other two, but the other two are more important. These games, against number 6 and number 7 in the district, are must wins."
Wildcats defeat White County Warriors in overtime
Kyle Copeland puts in 2 of his 21 points against White County in the Wildcats' home win on Friday, Jan. 31. The Livingston Academy senior hit five 3-pointers in the game.
By KEVIN BURMEISTER, OCN staff After a tough week on the road, the Wildcats were glad to be home for their game against White County on Friday, Jan. 31. Towards the beginning of the contest, it appeared as if they would roll out the welcome mat for their visitors from the south, with the Warriors inflicting their will upon LA early, 21-8. By the start of the second quarter, and with Livingston trailing by a baker's dozen, the Cats mounted a comeback from the early deficit. At the break, the Wildcats found themselves back in the game, trailing by only 6. Livingston Coach Danny McCoin said, "We had to play catch-up for most of the first and second quarter." After further trimming the White County lead to a single point, the Cats pulled even with the Tigers when it counted, forcing the nail-biter into overtime. Coach McCoin attributed LA's second-half comeback to the patience shown by his players in the face of a disastrous start. "Shots started falling," he said, "and we got a few turnovers." After jumping to an early lead in the extra frame, Livingston staved off the black and gold, forming an unrelenting lead in the extra session. The visitors were overwhelmed by the Livingston comeback, as they let the game slip away in the overtime. And despite the early-game momentum, overtime was what mattered, with Livingston impaling the Warriors to the tune of a 68-60 OT victory. "We kept our composure early, and we didn't lose it," Coach McCoin said. "We got down 13 points, and looked bad. But we just kept chipping and chipping. We didn't panic. We didn't start doing silly things. We just kept playing and playing, and we played hard the whole game." Leading the comeback Cats was Jamie Gurley, who scored 27 points and pulled down 14 boards. Kyle Copeland was on fire from downtown, nailing 5 of his 6 long-range attempts for a 21-point effort. Wilson Cates scored 9 in the LA win. "Copeland played exceptionally well," McCoin said. "And Wilson Cates played a good floor game. He handled the ball well, as always." Appearing to be back in pre-suspension form, Livingston now looks to turn from the poor excuse for a new beginning through which they have drudged since the return of six suspended players to their line-up. "I think the first week they returned, even though we played hard and were in decent shape, we were rusty," McCoin said. "Now we've got four or five games under our belt, we're back to playing together. We know who's going to be playing with who. We're comfortable. We're not out of sync now. "I think this week will be a little bit different than that week when they came back." Livingston looked to improve upon their 11-9 record as they hosted Crossville on Monday, Feb. 3, and district foe Smith County on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The week of Wildcats basketball will continue with a district game at DeKalb County on Friday, Feb. 7, a home game against Clarkrange on Saturday, Feb. 8, and still another District 7-AA showdown at Jackson County on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Overton County News
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