The Lady Cats Basketball Team won their first game of the season in dramatic fashion as Lady Cat Nylah Lindley rebounded a missed shot and hit a follow shot that just beat the buzzer to give the Lady Cats a 58-57 win over Cooper in a Bells Invitational Tournament game Thursday (November 14). Cooper had taken the lead in the last minute before Lindley’s heroics. The Lady Cats win spoiled a nice Cooper comeback. The Lady Cats opened strong in the game and had a 21-9 first quarter lead. The Lady Cats expanded the lead to 17 at the half, 35-18. After the halftime break in both the third and fourth quarters, the Lady Cats had trouble protecting the basketball. Numerous turnovers and some sharpshooting by Cooper allowed the Lady Bulldogs to get back into the game. Cooper trailed by only 5 after three quarters, 46-41 and took the lead early in the fourth quarter. Twice Cooper had three point leads in the fourth quarter. The Lady Cats did just enough to win. Freshman Kenzie Willis led the Lady Cats with 24 points including three three-point baskets. Freshman Addisyn Wall had two three-pointers and scored 8 points. Sophomore Hannah Cordell had 7 points. Junior Lindley and freshman Serenity Lewis both scored 6 points. Junior Bre’Asia Ivery had 4 points and senior Kate Womack had 3 points. Earlier in the day at the tournament, the Lady Cats lost to Pottsboro 65-37. Pottsboro is preseason ranked #23 in Class 3A. The Lady Cardinals scored the first nine points of the game and led 17-8 after one quarter. They expanded their lead to 30-17 at the half. The Lady Cats continued to trail by only nine points into the third quarter. Then Pottsboro blew open the game hitting some big three pointers. Their third quarter lead was 51-27. Cordell led the Lady Cats with 10 points and Willis had 7. Lindley scored 6 points. Womack and Wall had 4 points each. Lewis, senior Latavia Smith and sophomore Jasmine Taylor all had 2 points. With a split in pool play Thursday, the Lady Cats will now go into the Silver Bracket for second place teams in each pool. The Lady Cats play Friday at 10:15 a.m. in the new Bells Gym against the second place pool team that will be either Howe, North Lamar or Aubrey. The Lady Cats are now 1-3 for the season.
