Lady Bulldogs split games with 4A opponents

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 11/18/21

Quitman held on to beat Pittsburg at home Friday 53-50 behind the strong effort by junior post Kaysi Parker. They opened the season at Wills Point with a 63-50 loss.

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Lady Bulldogs split games with 4A opponents

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The Quitman Lady Bulldogs opened the basketball season splitting games against Class 4A opponents Pittsburg and Wills Point. Quitman held on to beat Pittsburg at home Friday 53-50 behind the strong effort by junior post Kaysi Parker. They opened the season at Wills Point with a 63-50 loss.

In the Friday win, Parker had one of those career nights. She scored 25 points and pulled down 13 rebounds (five offensive, eight defensive). Freshmen on the varsity, Allie Berry and Sadie Vander Schaaf, have already made an impact displaying their talents are up to the task.

Pittsburg got off to an early 15-11 first quarter lead at Ballard Memorial Gym. Berry scored on a put back, followed by a successful three-point shot which gave the Lady Bulldogs an early 7-3 advantage. 

After Pittsburgh’s Elysian Leemelle tied the game at 9-9, the Lady Pirates went on a six-point run.

The close game continued throughout the contest with neither team gaining more than a six-point edge. With the Lady Pirates up 15-11, Parker took over, scoring the next seven points as Quitman led 18-15.

Pittsburg hit a pair of free throws after the Quitman bench drew a technical foul to lead 24-18. The Lady Bulldogs got a three-point bucket from Maddy Pence to cut the score to 24-23 which was followed by a steal and a score from Vander Schaaf to give Quitman a halftime lead at 25-24.

Pittsburg started the second half taking a 26-25 lead on a Leemelle bucket, but that was thwarted by a steal and drive the length of the floor by Parker for a score to put Quitman ahead 27-26. After the Lady Pirates took a 28-27 lead, Parker was left open in the corner and hit a triple to put the Lady Bulldogs back in front 30-28. 

The teams battled relentlessly the rest of the quarter with Leemelle and Parker putting on an exciting duel the rest of the way. Leemelle hit for nine points in the third quarter, but Parker came back to score 10 points in the quarter. The battle ended the third quarter efforts with Pittsburg up 40-39.

A Parker bucket to start the fourth quarter gave Quitman a 41-40 lead followed by a steal and score by Vander Schaaf giving the Lady Bulldogs a 43-40 lead. An Ashley Davis free throw and a put back by  Parker on a missed shot gave Quitman their largest lead of the game at 46-40.

Parker scored after receiving a long pass from Pence to give Quitman a 49-44 lead, but the Lady Pirates would not go quietly. They fought back to cut the lead to 52-50, but a free throw with five seconds to go by Pence gave Quitman a 53-50 lead. The Quitman defense held Pittsburg to a long distance shot at the buzzer which did not come close and the Lady Bulldogs had the win.

Parker hit for 25 points, but it was also her defense which sparked Quitman, including 13 rebounds. Freshman Berry was varsity-savvy, scoring 10 points and was a key on defense as she pulled down 13 rebounds. Pence added nine points and was a leader on defense. 

Quitman’s Reiny Luman might not score a lot of points, but her dominance under the bucket was evident as the senior post had 11 rebounds with nine of those on defense. Also performing well was Ashley Davis, who was instrumental in the win, getting six steals and six assists.

In the opener at Wills Point, Quitman fell behind 32-27 at intermission and could not recover in the second half, being outscored 31-23.

At Wills Point, Pence led the scoring with 14, followed by Parker with 13, Berry 10 and Luman eight. Berry added 10 rebounds while Parker brought down nine rebounds and Luman eight.

After facing Wood County rival Alba-Golden Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs will join the varsity boys team participating in the Union Grove tournament this weekend beginning Thursday and going through Saturday.