Lady Cats suffer loss to Dougherty following no-call on contact
Published 2:05 pm Thursday, January 23, 2025
The Bainbridge Lady Cats (8-10, 1-4) were in a prime position to pick up a crucial second win in region play but let a 26-19 halftime lead disappear in a thrilling and also heartbreaking 60-58 finish against Doughtery on Friday evening that ended with contact at the rim and no call.
No. 4 Kyra Green had a team-high 17 points, 12 of her 17 came in the second half. No. 23 Da’Nydia Campbell finished with 12 points, No. 14 Ta’Liyah Ausgood also finished in double-figures with 11, and No. 32 Z’riah Solomon had eight points and a three-pointer in the final sixty seconds that allowed the Lady Cats to hold the ball last and dictate the outcome.
Ball movement was a key factor for the Lady Cats in the first half resulting in getting the ball into the paint and kicking the basketball for open looks. Ausgood made three, three-pointers and Solomon had two.
“I thought the girls played with a lot of effort,” Bainbridge Lady Cats coach Kelvin Cochran said. “Just came up short down the stretch, we have to control what we can control, turnovers, mixed boxed outs, missed free throws that’s the stuff we can control. We can’t sit and dwell on what the referee didn’t call, we just have to get over that hump.”
The final few possessions for the Lady Cats were complete chaos inbounding the ball down two, but showed the willpower this group of girls is all about.
“Z’riah had Kyra over the top,” Cochran said. “If she had put a little more air on the ball Kyra could have caught it and laid in it, but the guards were in a good position to grab the deflection and go into scramble mode.”
Down just two, after gaining possession back a three-point shot was necessary unless it was wide open, Campbell looked up at the clock and took off to the rim.
“The referee didn’t call it, she could have got hit or the ball could have hit her,” Cochran said. “At the end of the day, we have to focus on the missed box out and turnovers that gave Dougherty the two points.”
The Lady Cats followed that high-intense emotional home game with a tough loss at Monroe on Saturday losing 55-37. Green was in double figures with 16 points and No. 22 junior, Autumn Oliver finished with nine points.
The Lady Cats participated in the Martin Luther King Shootout hosted by Monroe High School and took on Lee County at noon, losing 51-27. Due to inclement weather in the area, their regular-season rematch against Thomas County Central was rescheduled to January 28th. The Lady Cats’ return to region play will have to wait. Both weekend matchups against the Westover Patriots and rivals Cairo Syrupmaids will be rescheduled as schools in the Doughery and Grady School District will reopen on Monday, January 27.
The Lady Cats are slated to play at Westover Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. as of this moment and Cairo on Feb. 8 at 6:00 p.m. They’ll travel to Thomas County Central, Tuesday Jan. 28 and play at 6 p.m. a game that was rescheduled from Jan. 22.
The Lady Cats will get back to region play this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 against Monroe for Senior Night and Peach County, a game that was pushed up and rescheduled.