by Malcolm Butler
When Katie Hall made out an early season non-district schedule that includes its fair share of 4A and 5A opponents, she knew she would be challenging her veteran team.
On Thursday night, that challenge grew exponentially against Class 5A Natchitoches Central when junior Alivia Lee — the second leading returning scorer from a year ago — was a pregame scratch due to illness.
So playing short-handed — depth is also one of the biggest question marks facing the reigning state champion runner-up Lady Cougars — Cedar Creek (1-1) played toe-to-toe with the Lady Chiefs 16-4 run over the final five minutes lifted Natchitoches Central to a 44-33 win at The Brickhouse.
“I feel like we are going to learn a lot from these games,” said Hall, who saw leading scorer Avery Ryan pick up three fouls in the first six minutes of the game. “I’m glad we were in this position. We need to have players step up for us.
“Avery is going to get triple teamed (this year). If she is triple teamed then someone is going to be open. Alivia Lee was out. This may happen again. So who is going to step up for us in those moments this year.”
Creek (1-1) came out of the starting blocks fast.
Mary Grace Hawkins hit a short corner jumper followed by a three-pointer from Arlyn Boyett as the Lady Cougars led 5-0 just over a minute into the contest. After six straight points by Natchitoches Central, Ryan hit 1-of-2 at the stripe and Taylor Martinez sliced down the lane for a layup as Creek led 8-6. Martinez then drained a three-pointer to push the advantage to 11-6.
However, Ryan was whistled for her third foul of the first quarter just seconds later, forcing her to go to the bench for the remainder of the first half.
With the reigning District 1-1A MVP on the pine, the Lady Cougars saw Natchitoches Central outscore them 14-6 the rest of the first half as the Lady Chiefs led 20-17 at the half.
“There are a lot of good takeaways,” said Hall. “Sure. It was frustrating not to get into any type of flow offensively, but we are going to learn from tonight.”
Ryan returned to the floor in the third quarter and Hall elected to go zone to protect her post player. It worked. However, while Natchitoches Central scored only six points in the period, the Lady Cougars were only able to cut one point off the deficit.
Turnover after turnover cost Cedar Creek as the Natchitoches Central 1-3-1 trapping defense caused the Lady Cougars trouble.
“I told them during one of our timeouts that we need to play at 80 percent with the ball,” said Hall. “I felt like we were rushing everything. It was the hype, and the energy, and the adrenaline.
“It will be good for us in the long run to have had to feel this way and to play through that frustration. We were just out of sync because we had people playing out of position tonight.”
Despite the turnover issues, the Cougars continued to stay within striking range and when senior Caroline James drained a corner three-pointer with 5 minutes to play, Creek led 29-28.
However, the lead was short-lived as Natchitoches Central scored less than 10 seconds later to start a game-ending 16-4 run.
“At halftime I thought we were in a good spot,” said Hall. “But we just could not figure out how to get open looks. We couldn’t get it in transition. Their length and quickness bothered us. It was good for us to see this, and tonight will make us a lot better in the long run.”
Ryan and Martinez led Cedar Creek with 10 points each.
Anna Newton led Natchitoches Central with 22 points while Jordan McDaniel added 17.
