Lady Cats Down Russellville 49-30 In Season Opener

Lady Panthers Shoot 0% In First Half

Edmonson County's Emma White (left) and Callie Webb fight for possession of the ball against Russellville's Aubreigh Cross (24).

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photos:
Edmonson County's Lady Cats notched their first win of the season last night at ECHS as they defeated Russellville 49-30 in the 2022-23 season opener.

Zone defense from the Lady Cats held the Lady Panthers to 0% shooting from the field in the first half. Russellville did not score a field goal until 5:10 left in the third quarter. They made only four field goals all night, which included one three-pointer. The remaining 21 points scored by the Lady Panthers came from the free throw line, where they attempted 37 of them, compared to only 15 free throw attempts from Edmonson County.

Senior Annie Kiper (50) drives against Russellville's Lareesha Cawthorne.

Cariann Williams (30) goes for 2 of her 15 points against Russellville.

The quick and athletic Lady Panthers couldn't buy a bucket, despite getting some good looks around the basket. Some went in and out of the rim while others bounced off the top of the backboard, or even over it.

Coach Bart Weaver credited his team for success early in the game.

"I thought we did a really good job first, you know, coming out and playing pretty well early," he said. Coach Weaver said his worry was playing sloppy in the second half with a big lead. Edmonson led 32-4 at the half. He said that while the turnovers were too high (18) and there were other things that needed to be "shored up," he was pleased with the defense early, where the Lady Cats caused some real trouble for Russellville with zone, shutting down Lady Panther senior guard A'miyah Collier.

"We've worked really hard the last couple days just working on that zone. Collier is one of the best players in the fourth region. She's very athletic and already signed to play softball at Central Arkansas. She's a really good player and she's such a good penetrator but not a good outside shooter, so we've worked really hard on closing those gaps in those zones. Overall, I thought we did a great job of keeping her out of the paint."

Coach Bart Weaver recognizes senior Lily Jayne Vincent for grabbing her 500th career rebound.

Coach Bart Weaver directs his team from the sideline.

Senior point guard Annie Kiper led all scorers with 18 points and 3 rebounds. Freshman Cariann Williams had 15 points and 6 rebounds. Emma White had 6 points and 9 rebounds, Callie Webb had 3 points and 2 rebounds, and Lily Jayne Vincent had 2 points and 10 rebounds. Vincent also grabbed her 500th career rebound during the game. Kennadi Swihart and Jenna Cook each added 2 and Maggie Cassady added one point.

Edmonson County shot 53% from the field, 22% from three-point land, and 73% from the free throw line.

They are 1-0 on the season and are set to take on Cumberland County in a girl/boy doubleheader this Saturday at 3PM.

Edmonson County's boys earned their first win of the season on Tuesday night, defeating Nelson County on the road, 57-41. They are now 1-1.