By Stan Beall
The Star Herald
CARTHAGE —
The Kosciusko Whippet girls and boys basketball teams traveled to Carthage last Friday night to take on the Leake Central Gators in a Region 4 contest and lost both games 73-50 and 60-45 respectively.
In the girls game the Lady Gators quickly jumped out in front of the Lady Whippets 23-15 in the first quarter.
The Lady Whippets got into more of a defensive rhythm in the second quarter but were still outscored by the Lady Gators 11-9.
The Lady Gators took a 34-24 lead into the half.
The Lady Whippets fell behind early in the second half and found themselves trailing the Lady Gators 58-34 after three quarters of play.
The Lady Whippets never gave into the Lady Gators and were able to outscore the host team 16-15 in the game’s final quarter, but the damage had been done and the Lady Whippets lost the region 5 contest 73-50.
“I have seen improvement, but tonight was not one of our better nights,” said Lady Whippet head coach Jemmye Ann Helms. “We didn’t have them prepared as well as they should’ve been, but we did have some good runs in there. We would make three or four good runs in a row and then we’d give up 10 or 12 (runs).”
The Lady Whippets were 2-1 in the week leading up to the Leake Central contest and had pulled there season record to 4-7 overall before falling to the Lady Gators last Friday night.
“We shot the ball better outside than we have been shooting it––we hit some 3’s, but still, when you’re playing somebody that size you have to get yourself into position to block out and keep them from getting to the glass,” added Helms. “We’ll correct that and get better––we’ll do a better job against Noxubee (County). Hopefully we’ll see them (Leake Central) again and do a better job.”
The leading scorers for the Lady Whippets were Justice Dotson with 10 points, Amber Gilmore with seven points, Brianna Veasley with six points and Brandi Wise, Phalisity Williams as well as Anna Grace MacKenzie with five points each.
In the boy’s game, the Gators were able to outscore the Whippets in the first quarter 10-9 and led 33-25 at the half.
The Whippets were able to chip away at the Gator lead in the third quarter and now trailed 42-36.
That would be as close as the Whippets would be able to get and the Gators would run away with the contest in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Whippets 18-9, winning the Region 4 battle 60-45.
The Whippets played at Noxubee County Tuesday night and will travel to Caledonia Friday night with the girl’s game beginning at 6 p.m.
