Lady Cats defeat Cairo

Published 2:52 pm Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Lashanda Middleton and Alexis Burke combined for 25 points to lead coach Latreisha Moon’s Bainbridge High School Lady Cats to a 64-27 victory over the Cairo High School Syrupmaids in Cairo last Friday.

The Lady Cats, who were 8-4 going into last night’s game against the East Gadsden High School Lady Jaguars in Quincy, Fla., took command early against Cairo, scoring the first seven points of the game. Burke, who finished with 10 points, scored a 2-pointer from the right baseline just 44 seconds into the game.

Finishing up the 7-0 run that started the game were Vanessa Jones, with a driving layup off the right glass, and Middleton, who had a driving shot and free throw among her game-high 15 points.

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Lakasha Simon broke the scoring ice for the Syrupmaids with a layup at 4:11 left in the first quarter to cut the Lady Cats lead to 7-2.

Lady Cat April Thomas hit a short jumper from the left baseline to push the lead out to 9-2 at the 3:56 mark. They were up by 10, 14-4, at the end of the first quarter.

Two free throws by Briana Wade at the 5:10 mark of the second quarter put the Lady Cats up 17-7 and they had a double-digit lead the rest of the game. They were ahead 27-13 at halftime.

A layup off the right glass by Bria Harris, who finished with nine points, sent the Lady Cats to the fourth quarter with a 45-19 lead.

Burke’s layup with 4:01 left in the game put the Lady Cats up by 32, 53-21.

Behind Middleton, Burke and Harris in the Lady Cats scoring column Friday were Megan Bell with seven, Bria Wade with five, April Thomas with four, Diamond Bouie with three, and Vanessa Jones and T’Keyhah Thomas with two apiece. Kiera Addison led the Syrupmaids with eight.

After the game, Moon said she thought her played well defensively.

“We really played tight defense on Cairo,” the Lady Cats coach said. “I thought Vanessa Jones did a good job and April Thomas’s quickness was a factor.”

The Lady Cats return to action Friday, when they travel to Moultrie for a 6 p.m. game against the Colquitt County High School Lady Packers.