Panthers Outlast Wildcats 66-56

Darren Doyle, story
Laney Meredith, photos
It was tough match up against a tough team last night at ECHS as the Wildcats fell to the Daviess County Panthers, one of the better teams in the third region, 66-56.

"It's a tough loss," said Assistant Coach Bart Weaver. "I don't think when you look at the scoreboard at the end of the game, it was a good indication of what kind of game it was." 

The Wildcats kept it close for three and a half quarters but were forced to foul toward the end of the game and the Panthers hit their free throws down the stretch.

"We fought. We wanted to limit our turnovers, we wanted to play good sound, help defense. We had a good game plan going in, but the disappointing thing to me and Coach Mac was, we had their two best players in foul trouble in the first half, but we couldn't take advantage of it," Weaver said.

Junior Bailey Board goes for two against Daviess County.

It was a physical game with lots of contact. At one point, the officials got everyone together to try to cool the attitudes. A technical foul was issued to Panther player for mouthing off after a call, and trash talking was plentiful from both teams.

"We saw the talking, we could hear some of it too, but you know, I don't think it took us out of anything, we just have to learn to play poised in those situations. n the last minute of the game, there were a couple times instead of running good plays, we were jacking up threes, and those are low percentage shots with somebody in your face."

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Junior Iszic Blankenship catches a pass from senior Cuban Sowders.

Offensively, the Wildcats were led by Senior Cuban Sowders with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Other Cats in double figures were Senior Hunter Buttram with 12 points, Iszic Blankenship had 10 points and 5 rebounds, and Junior Caleb Skaggs had 10 points.

Also helping the effort was junior Bailey Board with 9 points.

​As a team, the Wildcats shot a measily 22% from the three-point line, 36% from the field,  but managed to hit 80% of their foul shots.

The Wildcats are now 2-1 on the season and will travel to Greenwood on Friday night in a girl/boy doubleheader. You can listen to the live stream on your home for ECHS sports, WildcatsLive on EdmonsonVoice.com. Girls action is scheduled to start at 6pm with the boys following immediately after.

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