Lady Wildcats take 3 wins, move to 18-3

Last week, the Livingston Academy district -leading girls took on three opponents and their biggest concern was not necessarily winning, but getting back in stride after two extremely tough wins the week before.

“Just getting the team up after beating Upperman and White County last week will be the biggest thing tonight,” assistant coach Elizabeth Maxwell explained before Tuesday’s game at Stone Memorial. “Those two wins were so big and the kids played so hard, hopefully tonight we can keep going at that level, but it will be hard.”

Beating Upperman is one of Livingston’s biggest objectives every season, and this time around, they were the defending state champs, ranked number one in the state and playing on the Lady Bees’ home court.

The Lady Wildcats won.

And earlier in the week, White County, the number three ranked team in the state to take on LA and this time – the Lady Wildcats won.

So facing an 8-14 Lady Panthers team just didn’t have the appeal of the earlier opponents, but true to form, the Lady Cats rose to the occasion and won, 57-40.

“It wasn’t our best game,” senior Aleah Melton commented after the game, “but I thought it was good that we just went out there and won. Those wins last week were big, and it’s hard to come back after something like that and play at that level. We won and we have to face Pickett on Thursday, and that will get us back up, I’m sure.”

Melton was right on. Livingston took a 21-9 lead at the end of the first period, but let their guard down in the second frame and the Lady Panthers came back to trail by only six, 27-21, at intermission.

A strong third frame, led by the Ellie Butler’s 11 points, eight of them in a row, an opening field goal by Halle Ledbetter, and a three-pointer by Melton at the buzzer sent the Cats on top 46-28 going to the final frame.

“We can do better,” Ledbetter explained after the game, “and we had better do better Thursday against Pickett, but for right now, we won and that’s what’s important.”

With the win, Livingston stood alone at the top of the district with a perfect 5-0 mark and a 16-3 overall record.

Pickett County brought a young, but fiery team to Livingston on Thursday night, and when the dust had settled, the Lady Cats had won for the second time this season over the Lady Bobcats, and for the first time since 2012, both Livingston Academy teams had swept both Pickett County teams.

And as expected, it was a fight from start to finish.

Melton opened the game with a three-pointer, but Pickett charged back and led 15-12 at the end of the initial frame.

Second period action saw Butler open with a field goal, Melton scoring a field goal and a free throw, Mallie Coleman hitting from the top of the key, another field goal from Melton, a three from Keely Mullins, and Butler closing out the period with a field goal.

Livingston had pulled to the top going to halftime, 30-24.

Pickett just couldn’t handle the strong LA defense plus an offense that answered every shot it made. In the period, Mullins would score 7 of her total 15 points, but late in the game, she would suffer an ankle injury that will sideline her at least one, if not more games.

“That was my fault,” head coach Lesley Riddle pointed out after the game. “We were winning and I should have taken out the starters, but I didn’t. I’m going to work on that part of our game more. I need to give our other players more time on the floor when we can afford it.”

“Lesley (LA coach Lesley Riddle) has a really good team,” Pickett County coach Brent Smith said. “They do everything well and I wish them well as the season goes on. We’re young and we have work to do, but it will come as we get more experience.”

“I was having fun again tonight,” Coleman smiled after the game. “Keeping the ball away from the other team is my job, and I love my job.”

Butler and Mullins each scored 15 points while Coleman had a good scoring night with 8 points, and Ledbetter, with 8 rebounds, hit for 5.

Livingston traveled to Creekwood on Saturday, carrying a fine 17-3 record to the non-district contest. This was the second meeting between the two teams, with the Lady Cats taking the first meeting in early December at LA.

Saturday, it was a back and forth game until late in the second frame when the Lady Cats moved out by nine, 38-29. In the third quarter, Ellie Butler dumped in 12 of her game-high 30 points to help LA take a 58-46 win.

Aleah Melton added 14 points to the list with Halle Ledbetter and Mallie Gene Coleman each adding 4. Emma Poston and Jaicie Garrett each added 3. The win over the state’s number 3 3AAA team moved Livingston to 18-3 on the season.