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Number 9 Clay County clips Lady Cards 48-47 SHANNON HUTCHINSON Sports Writer The Wayne County Lady Cardinals met Clay County, last Friday night at Cardinal Gym, in a match up of two of the top teams in the 12th and 13th Regions. The Lady Cards entered with an 11-2 record and were coming off a heartbreaking loss to Nature Coast a week earlier. Clay County, ranked as high as 9th in various polls across the state, entered with an impressive 13-1 record. Clay County senior guard and All-State candidate Jayme Gilbert netted two free throws with under 15 seconds to play, as the Lady Tigers rallied to take a 48-47 win. Gilbert's free throws capped-off an impressive 30 point effort, as the senior stalwart made 11 of 21 field goal attempts and 8 of 10 free throws. Genna Gray added 6 points, as just six Lady Tigers scored in the contest. "Clay County is solid, big, strong and shoot it well. They are a legitimate top 120 team. They don't turn the ball over and that all starts with their point guard Jayme Gilbert. Gilbert is the best point guard we've faced this season and she's such a powerful player that plays rugged on the inside. Clay County has a very nice basketball team and they are the best team we've played this season," said Lady Cards head coach Tim Pyles. Wayne County, which lost for the second straight time and dropped to 11-3, was led by freshman forward Meg Latham. Latham finished with a team high 15 points and 8 rebounds, in 30 minutes of action. The talented freshman shot 6 of 13 from the field and 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Courtney Duncan added 13 points, on 5 of 9 shooting from the field, which included a 3 of 5 effort from 3-point range. Senior forward Latoyia Green added a game high 12 rebounds with 4 points, while logging 30 minutes of action. Heather Stearns totaled 6 points, as eight different Lady Cards scored in the game. "The thing that's so disappointing is our kids did everything we asked them to do and we still didn't finish the deal. We let a couple of chances to push the lead slip away and my concern is we're not finding a way to finish teams off and win. Our youth and inexperience really shows up late, but I do believe we're getting some valuable late game experience," said Pyles. Jayme Gilbert exploded for 10 points in the first period, as the Lady Tigers made 7 of 7 field goal attempts and claimed a 14-12 lead. The Lady Cards were able to stay close, despite shooting just 4 of 11 from the field in the first quarter. "We just couldn't stop them early and Gilbert couldn't miss," said Pyles. Courtney Duncan nailed 3 3-pointers in the first half and tallied 11 points, as Wayne County used a 16-10 second stanza run to take a 28-24 halftime advantage. Latham added 6 points during the run, while the Lady Cards defensive unit held Clay County to 4 of 12 shooting in the period. Clay County's Gilbert added 8 points in the third frame, as her squad used a 14-11 tilt to close the score to 39-38, after three periods. Wayne County held the slimmest of leads, despite connecting on only 3 of 16 field goal attempts. Clay County's Gilbert added 8 more points in the final quarter, including the go-ahead free throws with under 15 seconds to play, as the Lady Tigers claimed a 48-47 win. The winners made just 3 of 10 field goal attempts in the final 8-minutes. Lindsey Dishman finished with 3 points while the trio of Kayla Bowlin, Kara Gothrup and Kayla Jones all netted 2 points each. Gothrup added a game high 5 assists, while Bowlin contributed 3 assists, as the Lady Cards totaled 11 assists against 12 turnovers. Clay County shot 19 of 43 overall for 44 percent and tallied on 1 of 5 3-pointers for 20 percent. They Lady Tigers made 9 of 16 free throws for 56 percent and totaled 8 steals with 5 assists, against 11 turnovers. "Clay County takes such good care of the basketball, they make it so hard to turn them over. Give them credit, they have a very good team," said Pyles. Wayne County shot 17 of 48 overall for 35 percent and converted on 5 of 15 3-pointers for 33 percent. The squad tallied on 8 of 11 free throws for 33 percent and claimed a 28-19 rebound advantage. Up next for the Lady Cards are two very important district contests. The team travels to upstart McCreary Central on Monday night and ends the week on Friday at home against cross town rival Monticello. "This is without question a must win situation if we want to reach our goal as the district's number one seed," said Pyles. Add a comment |
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