Lady Cats Hang On In 48-39 Win Against Rival Lady Cougars

Edmonson County sophomore center Cariann Williams is fouled by visiting Grayson County Friday, December 8th in Brownsville.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
Edmonson County High School Lady Cats basketball extended their season opening win streak to five games Friday, December 8th with a 48-39 win against the visiting Grayson County Lady Cougars in Brownsville.
 
While they led from the opening tip to the wire, it was not all unicorns and rainbows, especially in the second half.
 
“We started good and that was our point in the locker room-- that we needed a good start and we had to let ‘em know we was here,” Lady Cats head coach Jody Booth said after the game.
 
In their previous contest against Logan County, at Logan County, they played flat, Booth said, and he did not want that repeated against long-time rivals Grayson.
 
“I’m just proud of the way we started,” he said.
 
The Lady Cats gave up only one field goal in the first quarter.
 
“I didn’t realize, and that’s impressive,” Booth said. “That’s the girls, that’s not me.”
 
Grayson drew first blood, sinking only one of three free throws after just 15 seconds, but did not score again until another free throw over 7 minutes later. By then, the Lady Cats were up now 13-2 with only 1:24 left in the first quarter.
 
The first half ended with ECHS ahead of GCHS 26-16.
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Edmonson County sophomore center Cariann Williams shoots a short jumper against visiting Grayson County Friday December 8 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County junior guard Kennadi Swihart moves the ball up court against visiting Grayson County Friday December 8 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County junior guard Jenna Cook drives to the hoop on a fast break against visiting Grayson County Friday December 8 in Brownsville.

​“We started out super strong, then we started getting fouls,” junior guard Kennadi Swihart said.

While there were signs Grayson County was making adjustments towards the end of the first half, it wasn’t completely apparent until the second half when after two minutes Grayson had cut the lead to 1 point.

“We let (Sydney) Perkins get hot, and we shouldn’t have done that,” she said. “We just let her shoot, and she just kept on shootin’ and shootin’ and that was our fault.”

Edmonson pulled back away with a four, and then short lived, 5- point lead until Grayson scratched their way back to within 1 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.
 
The tug of war continued between the two long rivals and the third quarter ended with ECHS ahead 36-33 with one quarter left.
 
The Lady Cats extended their lead to 7 points, but it was again short lived when the Cougars battled back to within 1 point.
 
The 1 point would be as close as the Lady Cougars could get though, thanks to junior Julie Norris, who had two key buckets, including a three-pointer down the stretch that snuffed out any real chance for a Grayson comeback. The Lady Cats would extend their lead to the final score of 48-39 with a final two free throws from junior guard Jenna Cook with less than 10 seconds left in the game.
 
“I really believe we grew a lot tonight, just as a better team we pulled together and we were able to pull it out,” Booth said.
We came out strong and played all four quarters really strong, I think, Swihart said. 
“I just love seeing our girls compete,” Booth said.
 
We will respect our opponents, but we will not fear anybody, Booth has said in the past.

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“I’m just proud of the defense,” Booth said. “All in all I think we had a good defensive effort tonight. We had a few brain farts, but it happens. I am pretty sure we shot 20 for 25 at the free throw line, and that’s the ball game right there.”

Swihart led the Lady Cats in scoring with 14 points and 2 rebounds, sophomore center Cariann Williams had 13 points and 6 rebounds, and junior guard Jenna Cook added 12 points and 6 rebounds in the Lady Cats' first district win of the season.
 
The Lady Cats (5-0) and host Adair County (1-3) at home December 12th at 8 PM on Tuesday.