A successful early season continued for the Louisville Wildcats basketball programs last week as the teams played three games each and came away with several wins.
The Lady Wildcats are in the middle of a hot start to the year and they kept the momentum rolling last week beginning with a home match up with nearby Choctaw County. The Lady Chargers have one of the state’s top players in La’Genesis Johinson and the star center was a handful for the Lady Wildcats to prepare for this week.
CCHS jumped out to an 18-7 lead in the first quarter as they had full control to get things started but the 3-point shot would get things started for LHS. Dyshunte Bragg banged home a trio of those long balls to cut the 11-point lead down to just three at halftime.
That got the momentum rolling for the Lady Wildcats as they would take a five-point lead after three quarters and ultimately win the ball game 50-43 in what was a battle for both teams over the course of four quarters. Amaria Pruitt had 14 points to lead the way for the Lady Wildcats.
On Friday, the Lady Wildcats traveled to the McAdams Tournament and that ball game wouldn’t be quite as hotly contested as the previous one. LHS overpowered Ethel as they raced out to a big lead early and would demolish the Lady Tigers in a 66-9 victory to move to 7-2 on the year.
The level of competition is picking up in a major way this week. On Thursday, the Lady Wildcats will go to the prestigious Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk at the Hump in Starkville and will play Horn Lake at Noon before coming back on Friday to play Olive Branch, also at Noon.
BOYS
Things went well for the Wildcats as well in their respective games as they played Choctaw County, Ethel and Yazoo County.
To start the week, LHS helped the boys and girls get a sweep of the Chargers as they won 60-51 in another game that was well-played between the two programs separated by 15 miles.
It was a 14-3 start to the ball game by the Wildcats as they jumped out to the early lead but the Chargers would steady things out and sty within striking distance only trailing 42-38 after three quarters. LHS was able to get a little bit of distance in the final minutes to pull out the win but it wasn’t easy.
Drea Shumaker had 18 points in the ball game including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter that made a one-point game a four-point lead. Vasedrick Cuberson also had double digits in the win with 16 points.
The offense really got going for the Wildcats when they went to McAdams for its tournament there. They blew away Ethel 95-49 on Friday night, but Saturday was a tough one against Yazoo County in which the Wildcats lost 66-59.
That loss was the first in five games as LHS has begun to get comfortable with the football players getting into basketball shape and into form.
Up next for the Wildcats (4-3) will be the East Webster tournament on Friday and Saturday. They will face off in a tough test against talented Pillow Academy on Friday at 5 p.m. and then play host East Webster Saturday night at 8 p.m.
