Two More EC Basketball Members Join 500 Rebound Club

Wildcat Junior Chaz Wilson and Senior Lady Cat Lauren Ballance Each Reach Milestone

Darren Doyle, story:
​Both the Wildcat and Lady Cat basketball teams have had success as of late, and some of that success can be credited to two more players that have reached the milestone of 500 career rebounds.

Chaz Wilson, a junior forward, grabbed his 500th rebound on January 31st of this year against Butler County at home. Wilson currently averages 10 points and 6 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 14 ppg and 10 rpg. He missed the first part of this season due to a baseball injury in the summer, but after lengthy rehabilitation he has since returned to the starting lineup.

Coach Mike McClintic said that Chaz is an everyday hard worker and is the team's vocal leader.

"He's very focused on doing whatever he needs to do to hep his teammates win," he said. "He's a very coach-able player and he's a great person off the court as well."

During his three years as part of the Wildcats, he's scored a total of 769 points and grabbed 532 rebounds. The Wildcats are 11-12 on the season with a regular district season record of 2-3. The Wildcats have won 8 of their last 10 games. The District 12 Tournament is scheduled for next week at Grayson County for both the boys and girls.

Senior Lauren Ballance reached the same milestone on Saturday, February 15th in a 51-44 win over Warren Central. Ballance finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds to put her at 502 career rebounds. Now in her fourth season as a Lady Cat, she has scored 807 career points. She currently averages 14 points and 7 rebounds per game. The Lady Cats have won 9 of their last 12 contests.

Coach Bart Weaver said that rebounding and defending have always been attributes for Ballance and that her success in rebounding should be even more noted because she doesn't have the advantage of size like other players.

"Lauren's 500 rebounds are remarkable because she's battling much bigger girls," Weaver said. "She seems to have a natural instinct for where the ball comes off the rim. She's now gained much more confidence, which has led to her becoming our leader scorer this year," he added.  

The Lady Cats' Madison Harrison reached the 500 rebound mark on January 28th in a win over Metcalfe County. Senior Emma Rose Vincent currently has 469 career rebounds, needing 31 to join her teammates with a minimum of four games left for Edmonson County.

Wildcat senior Dalton Decker currently sits at 972 career points, needing just 28 more to join the 1000-point club in three years. Decker was not on the varsity team as a freshman.

The Lady Cats are 15-10 on the season and are 4-1 in regular season district play. This is the final week of regular season games with each team having three G/B doubleheaders this week. Tonight, the teams are scheduled to travel to Hart County for a makeup game which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, February 4th. Girls tip is set for 5:30pm with the boys' game to follow. 

You can watch both games on the Edmonson Voice live video stream with the WildcatsLive broadcast team beginning at 5:15pm.