The Clear Creek Lady Cats took the court for a pair of league matchups.
The seventh-grade Lady Cats won 47-25 over Union County last Monday, and the Lady Panthers downed CCMS eighth graders, 48- 41.
Clear Creek was at White County Thursday, and the seventh graders topped the Warriors, 43-19. WCMS eighth grade earned a 53-46 win.
While Union’s seventh grade had a decisive height advantage in the post, a Clear Creek team effort kept her in check.
“Defensively, we rotated our bigs to keep a fresh body on her all game,” said coach Les McDaniel. “Rosie Everett, Pressley Chancey and Halle West did a good job of keeping her pushed off the block and not letting her have a big scoring night.”
Makenna Taylor continued to be a strong two-way player for the Cats with 17 points while spearheading their defensive efforts.
Everett scored 10 points thanks to a strong offensive rebounding performance. Alley Phillips and Kensey Pritchett found success driving the lane and each scored seven points.
Mary Grace Jones added two points, and McDaniel noted, “She does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score like rebounding, playing good defense and providing leadership.
Braylee Stewart and Lola Howard added two points each.
The eighth-grade Lady Cats’ win kept their playoff hopes alive. McDaniel praised CCMS guards for helping to keep Union’s in check while post players made necessary adjustments when the Panthers were able to get to the basket.
“Our bench played well, and Marley Hopkins and E.K. Bramlett stepped up and provided good defense and timely rebounding,” McDaniel said.
“We felt we could push the ball against this team and did just that. A lot of girls got in the scoring column. “
Taylor scored 15 points, Sarah Dale had 11, Kenley Thompson finished with nine. Madison Hall made a pair of three-pointers for six points, while Hopkins, Bramlett and Jaylee McDaniel scored two each and Morgan Palmeri added a point.
The seventh-grade Cats kept the pressure on White County with a full-court press and man defense in the first half. CCMS built a healthy lead as everyone got some court time.
“I’m proud of the reserves, they played well. Braylee Stewart and Lola Howard did a nice job running the reserve units,” McDaniel said. “This was a total team effort, everyone contributed in one way or another.”
Phillips led the way with 12 points and was followed by Everett (seven), Jones had (six), Pritchett (four), Taylor, Chancey, and Howard (three), Laney Martin and Brenlee Daniel (two) and West (one).
The eighth graders deployed a 2-3 zone in their game as White was able to secure a 36-23 lead at halftime.
“We stressed getting it down to single digits in the third, and the girls did just that,” McDaniel said.
“The Cats continued to battle and pulled to within two in the fourth, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. We had difficulty executing offensively down the stretch.”
CCMS scoring: Taylor (19), McDaniel (nine), Dale (eight), Thompson (six) and Palmeri (four).