WBB: Ladycats keep pace by knocking off Gary
Pinkerton (24) during action Friday night in Bobcat Gymnasium.
(Photo by John Krueger)
GARY, Tx -- With an opportunity to move into a second-place tie in the District 22-1A standings, Beckville head coach Britney Redfearn was hoping her squad didn't have a letdown Friday night when it took on the struggling Gary Lady Bobcats in the GHS homecoming tilt. But there was no letdown in sight as the Ladycats started fast and forced 39 turnovers in a 52-28 win here in Bobcat Gymnasium.
The victory was monumental for Beckville (10-12) in its attempt to claim the District 22-1A championship because it moved the Ladycats to 2-1 in league play and kept them one game behind front-runner Tenaha (11-11, 3-0 district), which was taking over sole possession of first with a 53-44 win over Garrison (5-10). The Lady Bulldogs fell back into a tie with BHS at 2-1.
Timpson (5-10) was causing havoc in the league as well, with a 37-31 win over Shelbyville (13-7), handing the Lady Dragons their second straight district setback. Shelbyville and Timpson are now tied for fourth place with identical 1-2 league marks. Gary (3-8) is the only winless team in 22-1A with a 0-3 record.
The tight league race will continue on Tuesday night, with Beckville hosting Shelbyville, Garrison visiting Gary and Tenaha at home to play Timpson. Games coming up on Friday include Beckville visiting Garrison, Timpson hosting Gary and Tenaha traveling to Shelbyville.
Beckville had to overcome poor free throw shooting in the game, as the Ladycats hit just 15-of-35 (42.9%) shots at the stripe in a contest in which 45 fouls were called. Gary also hit the boards hard, allowing no second-chance points for Beckville.
"We haven't spent a lot of time on free throw shooting up until this point, but we're going to make a more concentrated effort on it coming up next week," Redfearn said after the game. "I thought our intensity was good early on, which is a concern when you're playing a team which you're supposed to win 'on paper'.
"I was pleased with our shot selection early in the game and the fact that we were able to set the tone early and then pull away in the fourth quarter. I've been pushing that point - trying to get the girls to put teams away when we have the opportunity - and we did that tonight. But we need to do a better job of shooting free throws and blocking out better on the boards."
Beckville committed 22 turnovers offensively, but Gary was only able to directly score two points off those turnovers all night. The Lady Bobcats battled by hitting the boards and pushing the ball inside, scoring 10 of their points in the paint.
T'Ouja Adams led the balanced Ladycat scoring attack, pouring in 13 points; six of those came in the fourth quarter. Maya Bradford knocked down 12 points, Ivy Rieke was right behind with 10 and Cheyenne Haynes was close to double-figures with nine points.
Cassidi Whitaker and Taylor Swann each pitched in three points for BHS, while Devin Woodall and Jennifer Davis dropped in one apiece.
No Gary players were able to reach double figures, but the Lady Bobcats had a balanced attack. Channa Bird scored eight points, while Chelsea Powdrill muscled her way for six, Collyn Pinkerton chipped in five, Brittany Odom and Macie Innerarity each dropped in three points, Riley Beckham added two and Keely Armstrong scored one.
Rieke helped Beckville get off to the quick start by scoring eight of her points in the first quarter as the Ladycats limited Gary to just three field goals and none in the final 4:01 of the first period to take a 16-7 lead after the first.
Odom dropped in a trey just before the midway point of the quarter to cut the Beckville lead to 10-7, but Haynes and Whitaker each hit layups and Rieke dropped in a 17-footer to push the BHS lead to nine when the horn sounded.
Both squads struggled with turnovers in the second quarter, with Beckville committing nine and Gary struggling with 12. A pair of layups by Bird trimmed the Beckville lead to 19-12 with 4:49 left in the half, but Bradford scored the next six points to extend the BHS lead to 25-12.
Beckville led by 15 at the break, 29-14.
Gary was able to stay within striking distance in the third quarter by connecting on 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, while the Ladycats landed only 6-of-13 free throws, but still led 37-23 heading into the final period.
With both teams in double bonus in the final period and three of the Lady Bobcats fouling out three players - Beckham, Odom and Powdrill - Beckville was able to pull away by scoring 10 points in the paint and converting 5-of-14 free throws in the final eight minutes to stretch the lead out to the 24-point final.