By T. Scott Boatright
GRAMBLING — Sometimes the difference between an established basketball program and one that is rebuilding from scratch.
That was glaringly obvious Friday night as Lincoln Preparatory School played host to Cedar Creek in a District 1-1A girls hoops showdown inside the LPS Gym.
And because of the difference between the teams, this game was basically over before it started as Cedar Creek (24-3, 5-0) shut out the Lady Panthers in the opening stanza en route to a 50-11 final.
The Lady Cougars roared out to a 23-0 advantage by the end of the first quarter, and continued taking advantage of a plethora of Lincoln Prep turnovers in the second period to build a 39-4 lead by halftime.
Avery Ryan sparked Cedar Creek’s strong start with eight of her game-high 12 points coming early on in the contest while Alivia Lee and Mallory Smith added four points each in the opening quarter.
“I’m proud of our girls and the effort they give,” said Lady Cougars coach Katie Hall. “No matter what the scoreboard says, they’re going to play hard, share the ball and play to our standards. So I was very pleased with their effort tonight.”
Hall added that she was proud of the unwavering focus her team showed from start to finish.
“I’m going to give credit to them,” Hall said. “They love the game. They just play hard. It’s just them. I can’t take credit for that. They just get after it and never let up.”
But despite trailing by an insurmountable lead early on, the Lady Panthers never quit either.
Ajah Saulsberry, who finished with a team-high four points, connected on a running jumper for the first score of the second half that came 32 seconds into the third quarter.
Lincoln Prep added five points in the final eight minutes of the contest, which saw a running clock start before halftime, as the Lady Panthers’ Londyn Barnes, who finished with three points, nailed a long one from behind the arc from the left wing with 3:22 remaining before Kayla Ferguson laid one against the glass and in with 20 seconds left on the clock.
Lady Panthers coach Demetria Keys knew the challenge her team was facing well before opening tip-off.
“We knew our team isn’t at the point that Cedar Creek is at this point, ” Johnson said. “Our girls are really just starting to learn the game. Almost like they’re in school, and tonight they faced a tough lesson.”
The Lady Cougars had nine players on the scoring stat sheet, with Mary Grace Hawkins totaling 11 points, Arlyn Boyet adding seven from inside the paint, Alivia Lee finished with her early four points while Zoey Venters added another four, Caroline James pitched in with three and Britton Bennett and Kennedy Hall added one bucket each.
“I love it when everybody can play and everybody can contribute,” Hall said. “Our fans love to see that, too.
“It’s hard to get quality minutes for everybody to get (in tighter games with starters playing more minutes) as far as conditioning and not just playing each other in practice. So to get everybody quality minutes is just good.”
Next up for the Lady Cougars is the only other undefeated team in district play as Arcadia, which defeated Haynesville 86-9 Friday night, comes to the Brickhouse on Tuesday evening.
Hall believes her team will be ready.
“These girls are playing with confidence and I like where we are,” Hall said.
