Lady Cats Handle Business at Home Against Region Foe, Northwest Whitfield

By Wright Hogsed

The 10-3 Northwest Whitfield Bruins traveled to Gilmer County High School on Wednesday, January 15th, to take on the 7-7 Lady Cats in a Region 7 AAA matchup. The Lady Cats and Bruins started the game off sluggish, combining for 19 points the whole first quarter. At the end of one, the Lady Cats trailed 11-8 behind eight post points by NW Whitfield’s Junior Center #33 Miah Triana.

The sluggishness did not stop in the second quarter for either team, as both teams combined for another 19 points. This time, the Lady Cats gained the edge as they went into halftime with the lead up 20-18.

After halftime, the Lady Cats came out ready to play as they went on an 11-2 run, causing NW Whitfield coach Tori Clemmons to burn a timeout. Gilmer did not slow down the rest of the third quarter, scoring 21 points to give the Lady Cats a 41-29 lead going into the fourth quarter. Junior Guard #14 Bree Burnette led the third-quarter run, as she scored 10 of the Lady Cat’s 21 third-quarter points. Others who scored during the run were Senior Guard #4 Aliza Chastain, Senior SF #12 Madison Bradshaw, and Junior SF #32 Paula Robertson.

The Bruins turned up the offensive throttle in the fourth, but it was not enough to catch up to the Lady Cats. The Lady Cats spread the ball around well in the fourth quarter, having five players combine for all 17 of their fourth-quarter points. The game ended with a final score of 58-47, with the Lady Cats moving to 8-7 and 3-2 in region play, while NW Whitfield fell to 10-4 and 4-2 in region play. Leading scorers for the Lady Cats were Aliza Chastain (20 points), Bree Burnette (15 points), and Paula Robertson (9 points). Other contributors included Jace Sanderson (6 points), Madison Bradshaw (4 points), Chelsey Griggs (2 points), and Madison Hall (2 points).

Coach David Dowse and the Lady Cats look ahead to a jam-packed weekend as they prepare for a game on Friday, January 17th, as they travel to Adairsville for another region matchup and then turn around and play an out-of-state team at home in the Murphy Bulldogs (NC) Saturday, January 18th.