Lady Cats Rally Past Lady Raiders 62-42 on Homecoming

Edmonson County Lady Cats junior power forward Cariann Williams (30) scores a bucket on her way to double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds against visiting District rival Trinity Lady Raiders Friday Jan. 31 in Brownsville.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​The Edmonson County Lady Cats took the court at home against visiting district opponent Trinity Lady Raiders of Whitesville maybe with a lot on their minds, especially since it was Homecoming, Friday, January 31st in Brownsville.
 
The Lady Cats, since 1999, are 42-7, according to Edmonson Voice broadcaster and curator of Kentucky High School Athletic Association statistics Jamie Carnes on the Edmonson Voice Pregame Show.
 
Four games ago the Lady Cats defeated the Lady Raiders in Whitesville 53-35 and only committed 5 turnovers in the first half.
 
Back in Brownsville, it was a different story. The Lady Cats were up by a score of 30-24 but committed 13 turnovers and allowed the Lady Raiders to out-rebound them 15-12. The Lady Raiders committed 12 turnovers as well.

Edmonson County Lady Cats senior shooting guard Jenna Cook (3) drives to the basket against visiting District rival Trinity Lady Raiders Friday Jan. 31 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County Lady Cats sophomore point guard Shelby Sowders (50) finishes a fast break with a layup against visiting District rival Trinity Lady Raiders Friday Jan. 31 in Brownsville.

​What perhaps saved the Lady Cats, Edmonson Voice broadcaster Darren Doyle cited in his curation of game stats, was they were shooting close to 50 percent from the field and 60 percent from the 3-point line with six of them.
 
Maybe it was a win-hangover from the Daviess County win. Maybe it was such a large number of players double dipping on the evening being athletes and homecoming candidates. Maybe it was the pressure building from folks starting to notice the Lady Cats making their moves on the Region, Edmonson County head coach Jody Booth said after the game.
 
Maybe it was a little of all the above.
 
“A lot of people are just talking about us now,” Booth said. “That gets to the kids and they just gotta be able to go out there and play.”
 
They are sitting near the top of their District, they want to keep winning, he said.
 
The Lady Cats, despite being up 6 points at the half went into the locker room with their heads down, critical of themselves and every mistake and play, Booth explained.
 
He then assured the team, they shouldn’t have their heads down because they still haven’t played their best basketball yet and were up 6. He then told them to take a deep breath and play basketball.
 
“And we did that,” Booth said.

Edmonson County Lady Cats senior shooting guard Kennadi Swihart (12)) drives to the basket against visiting District rival Trinity Lady Raiders Friday Jan. 31 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County Lady Cats bench celebrates after a score against visiting District rival Trinity Lady Raiders Friday Jan. 31 in Brownsville.

Indeed, they did, outscoring the Lady Raiders 22-7 in the third quarter.

The game can be watched in its entirety, as with any game covered by WildCatsLive by Edmonson Voice here.
 
By the end of the night the Lady Cats had righted their ship and ended with a 62-42 victory over the Lady Raiders when it was all said and done.
 
Some stats on the evening saw four Lady Cats with double figure scoring. Junior power forward Cariann Williams earned another double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, senior shooting guard Jenna Cook had 13 with 6, sophomore point guard Shelby Sowders had 13 as well with 3 boards and Kennadi Swihart shot down 11 with one board.
 
The Lady Cats out rebounded the Lady Raiders 33-29 but had committed 25 turnovers by the end.
 
The Lady Cats stay at home for their next game when Glasgow High School comes to town for a tip off at 7:30 p.m.  February 3 in Brownsville.