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Saniah
The Ladycats returned to the floor after a week of no practices or games due to virus protocol against the Bellevue Lady Tigers. The two teams had already met earlier in the season with Pendleton County coming away with a 51-39 win which saw two players from Bellevue scoring 28 of their 39 points.
Coach Jenna O’Hara commented pregame how they had to control these two players and force the other Lady Tigers to score. A task that might have been easier if she had been able to prepare her team in practice. Also a factor starting shooting guard Sydney Manor would not be able to play. So going in there was no clue how the Ladycats would respond to the time off and stepping right back onto the court for a game.
At the start of the first quarter the Ladycats looked out of rhythm as they found good open shots, but could not get the ball to drop through the goal. Eventually with the defensive pressure causing trouble for Bellevue the Ladycats were able to hold a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Bellevue faired better in the second quarter having their most productive quarter putting 16 up on the board and hold a 21- 14 lead at half.
All season long Coach O’Hara has been able to motivate her team at half and they have come out of the lockerroom and dominated the third quarter. This game was no exception as Pendleton County went hot on both sides of the ball tallying 22 points for the eight minute span. Saniah Thomas pulled numerous rebounds while scoring seven points as her post teammate Cara Stewart helped clean the boards and added six points of her own.
With the Ladycats holding a nine point lead heading into the fourth quarter both teams traded baskets back and forth eventually forcing Bellevue to foul and put the Ladycats on the line late in the game. Free throw shooting has been a concern lately as the team is only shooting near 50% and could be a game determining factor in the future.
As the Ladycats pulled out the 46-37 win and with the team shorthanded the underclassman duo of Katie Wright, who scored 11 points, and Cailyn Harper stepped up their play and provided some very good positive minutes on the floor for Coach O’Hara.
After the game in talking with Coach O’Hara she was excited about her team’s performance, “Ladycat basketball is back! We weren’t sure if it was the best idea to play the day after the quarantine ended, but my goal is to give these girls a season, especially our seniors. I’m so proud of how all three of our teams played today. We told the girls to dig deep today and the 22 point third quarter I would definitely call digging deep. The Ladycats have not started a season 6-2 since my days playing under Coach Keith Smith.”
The Ladycats are scheduled to play three games this week starting tonight at home versus Campbell County, Wednesday at St. Patrick, and Friday at home against Nicholas County.