Lady Wildcats ready to get playoffs underway at North Pike
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By RUSSELL TURNER | Herald Editor
The Greene County Lady Wildcats continued to depend on strong defensive effort this past week in the Region 8-4A Tournament at Bay St. Louis. Coach Dale Kimble’s team went 1-1 in the tournament in two games where neither team topped the 30-point mark.
A 27-22 loss to Bay High on Wednesday night prevented the Lady Cats from improving their seeding as they kick off the MHSAA 4A State Tournament tomorrow night. But, with their 29-22 win over Moss Point on Thursday, GCHS held on to their No. 3 seed, setting up a matchup with the No. 2 seed from Region 6 Monday night in Summit.
“North Pike is a good team,” Kimble said. “. They play hard and have a good ball handler. But, we feel good about the matchup and are excited about the opportunity.”
“We do have a few girls that were a little worn down after Thursday and may have been fighting a little virus or something because they just weren’t feeling well, but hopefully they will be rested up and ready to go Monday night.”
A little rest was likely in order for the Lady Cats after a busy week and two hard-fought, defensive battles. They got off to a promising start against Bay on Wednesday and held a 4-point lead at halftime. But, they were held to six points in the final two periods as the home team did just enough to get the victory.
“We played great defense against Bay High, but did not shoot very well,” Kimble said. “Bay had a 6-2 and a 6-foot player inside and they blocked a lot of shots.”
“And, Moss Point just smothers you when you penetrate into the lane so you have to hit mid-range shots or 3-pointers to score.”
The “strong defense and conservative offense” Kimble said was the tale for both games was enough for his team pulled out the win on Thursday. Senior Alisha Johnson was a big reason too. Johnson proved she was worthy of her All-Region selection this season with a well-rounded 13 points, eight steals and six rebounds in the win. Freshman Rakhiya Moody, another All-Region selection, followed with six points and three rebounds.
Freshman Zamiah Knight, the Lady Cats third All-Region First-Team selection, led GCHS in the loss to Bay. Knight had nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from behind the 3-point stripe. Johnson and junior Shanya McLeod, an All-Region Honorable Mention selection for the Lady Cats, posted four points apiece. McLeod led the defensive effort with three steals.
While the GCHS defense continues to be strong, Kimble knows he is going to have to have more point-production moving forward. He feels confident the Lady Cats can find it.
“I think the girls feel they have made good strides in the last three weeks offensively,” said Kimble, whose young team enters the state playoffs with a 22-11 overall record. “If our shot selection is good, we shoot well.”
They will have their chance Monday night at 6 p.m. in Summit. North Pike enters the matchup at 18-11 on the year after a 24-53 loss to top-seeded Raymond in their region championship game last Friday. If the Lady Cats earn their 23rd win of the season, they will advance to take on either Lawrence County or Mendenhall on Friday.
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