The Clear Creek Lady Cats met the Pickens Dragonettes in the opening round of the eighth grade Mountain League basketball tournament last week.
CCMS was the lower seed, and the two met at Union County Middle School. Pickens used a strong third quarter performance to build a lead, which they increased in the fourth for a 48-33 victory.
The game was close for a half, and Lady Cat Lucy Ray helped keep CCMS in it.
She scored seven of her team-high 11 points in the opening quarter, and was there for 14 rebounds on the day. Sarah Mulkey and Aliza Chastain joined Ray in the scoring column in the second quarter.
Pickens hit a pair of threes in the half. The Dragonettes held a 10-9 lead after a quarter and were still ahead 20-15 at the break.
The Cats made just two shots from the field in the third to go with 3/5 performance from the foul line. Meanwhile, PCMS got its offense in gear and made shots from inside and out to open a 38-22 advantage with a quarter to play.
Pickens was sent to the free-throw line nine times in the fourth and made six. Katelynn Carder scored all five of her points for CCMS in the fourth, and Chastain, Mulkey and Ray were there for points as well, but the Cats could not catch the Dragonettes by game’s end.
Mulkey and Chastain both scored seven points and Marly Boatwright added two.
Mulkey also recorded 10 rebounds and was followed by Libby Pike with seven, Boatwright with six and Carder’s and Chastain’s five.
CCMS finished the season with a 1-12 record, and coach Jessica Hensley was proud of how the Cats progressed over the season and is looking forward to the future.
“I’m super proud of both groups (seventh and eighth), and they are so much better than when we started,” Hensley said. “We are going to go to work this summer and be ready to go next year. We are looking at some great camps, and the girls are already pumped about summer ball and getting better.
“These kids are invested in what we are trying to do now and their heart is in the right place. We are working diligently with coach (Susan) Nunn and the high school to merge the program the way it needs to be to make it successful and beneficial to each child throughout their school basketball career.”