ECMS Lady Cat Basketball Begins

As the Friday Night Lights of fall sports get closer to the end, that means only one thing for sports fans: it’s time for Basketball in the state of Kentucky.  From Owensboro to Pikeville, Lexington to Connecticut, boys and girls have already been practicing for months now, preparing for the 2014-2015 basketball season, and that would include our own Edmonson County Middle School  Lady Cats. Coaches Tyra Ballance and Tom Vincent have been hard at work preparing their girls for the upcoming season.  Learning new plays, new positions on offense, and new defensive schemes are just a few of the many things these young Lady Cats have been working on since practice began at the start of the school year. 

To help with team building and developing team chemistry, they've participated in tons of activities outside the gym. The Lady Cats attended a double header at Bowling Green Ball Park to watch the Hotrods in action, and then in early October they held their annual Pancake Breakfast at The Byrd Activity Center in Chalybeate, where the guest speaker was Coach Daniels from  Austin Peay. Entering into her 9th year as Head Coach, she spoke to the girls about being team players, role models, (on and off the court), and the importance of hard work. The pancake breakfast is the biggest booster event they have each year, and it brings in about 90% of the money raised annually.

The ECMS Lady Cats with Coach Daniels from Austin Peay. (photo by S. McCombs)

After months of practice, the ECMS Lady Cats traveled to Breckenridge County for their first game of the year on October 21. The 7th grade team, with Coach Tom Vincent at the helm, came out firing on all cylinders. With the inside play of Madison Harrison and Lauren Ballance, they cruised to an easy 28-19 win.  Harrison led the team in scoring with 12 points. 

Not to be outdone, coach Tyra Ballance’s 8th grade team started out strong in their season opener, with a 13-11 halftime lead for the Lady Cats. This game was back and forth until the very end, but Breckenridge’s strong outside shooting let them slip away with the win against ECMS 36-25. The Lady Cats were led in scoring by Chanley Logsdon with 10 points, and Lauren Ballance with 8. 

Two days later on October 23rd, the Lady Cats returned to action in their home opener against Butler County.  Again, the 7th grade team came out on fire, lighting the nets up offensively and wearing down the Lady Bears with their full court-style defense. Coach Tom Vincent and the 7th grade Lady Cats picked up their 2nd win of the season, routing BCMS 35-9, with Lauren Ballance leading the way with 10 points. 

The ECMS 8th grade Lady Cats were looking to bounce back in their first home game, and bounce back they did... from the tip off until the final horn.  The Lady Cats looked were virtually untouchable with a 25-2 lead at half time, then cruising to a  38-16 victory. Hannah Meredith and Lauren Ballance led the team in scoring with 11 points each. Coach Ballance said she was proud of the way her Lady Cats played. "We're looking forward to getting back into practice, to hopefully keep the girls on a roll, and work on things we need to do to improve," she said.

ECMS tip off against Butler County last week. (photo by S. McCombs)

The Lady Cats travel to Beaver Dam TONIGHT,  Nov 3rd, to play the Ohio County Lady Eagles in a much anticipated game. The 7th grade game tip off is at 5:30. The next home game will be Nov 8th when the Lady Cats will  play Hancock County Middle School,  tipping off at 11 am.

My pick for The Lady Cats player of the week is Lauren Ballance. She scored 39 points in 4 games for ECMS and is a key player for both the 7th and 8th grade teams. Good luck to the girls in their games this week.

Shawn McCombs, 
Edmonson Voice

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