Lady ‘Cats win Frisco League Tournament

By Coach Steve Rissler

The top seeded Lady ‘Cats opened the Frisco League tourney with a 65-25 victory over the 8th seeded Stoutland Lady Tigers. Licking dominated from tip to final buzzer as 14 girls played and 11 scored.

Abbie Sullins scored 12 of her game high 18 in the first quarter as LHS jumped out to a 21-3 lead. The Lady Cats led 39-8 at half and 58-19 after 3 quarters.

Scoring was as follows: Abbie Sullins 18, Linzie Wallace 8, Hannah Medlock 8, Kiley Ingram 7, Kinley Keaton 6, Kylie Taylor 5, JoJo Wells 4, Zoey Dawson 3, Allie Hock 2, Kaida Cook 2 and Finley Sullins 2.

“We were able to play several different lineups and try some things out defensively.” – Coach Steve Rissler

In the semi-final game, #1 seed Licking and #4 seed Crocker faced off in a highly anticipated second round matchup of the 2021-22 Frisco League Tournament final. Both teams started slow offensively and shot makes were few and far between in the first four minutes of play. Medlock was able to get going, scoring seven points early, but Crocker answered and the first quarter score ended 9-9. Crocker’s senior transfer, Kelsey Todd, hit five three-pointers in a row in the second quarter to ignite the Lady Lions, but Licking freshmen Wells and Wallace scored four and five respectively to help LHS keep pace and only trail 30-29 at the break.

Licking opened the second half with a mini run to take a small lead. The ‘Cats were able to limit Kelsey Todd in the second half and forced other girls to try and score for Crocker. Fellow Lion senior Skyler Layman tried to keep her squad in the game, scoring 13 in the second half, but several runouts from Taylor and Abbie Sullins extended the lead. Licking advanced to the championship with a 65-53 win.

Medlock led with 25 points and 6 boards, followed by Abbie Sullins with 18; Wallace 8; Taylor 5 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists; Wells 4; Cook 3 and Ingram 2.

The top seeded Lady Cats faced the second seeded and undefeated Newburg Lady Wolves in the championship game. Licking came out gunning as Taylor hit a deep three, got a steal off the ensuing press and found Medlock at the rim, who was fouled and made both free throws. Newburg missed a shot and Medlock buried a three for LHS for an early 8-0 lead. Newburg rallied after a timeout and outscored Licking 13-7 the rest of the quarter for a 15-13 LHS lead after one. Newburg stayed in the game in the second quarter with FTs, going 7/7 from the line. Licking struggled from the field, missing multiple chip shots. Licking’s 6-0 run to finish the quarter tied the score at 28 apiece at the intermission.

The third quarter was once again controlled by the ‘Cats as they outscored Newburg 23-7 to bust the game wide open. Medlock hit a three, followed by Taylor, back to Medlock for another, Taylor drained another one, Medlock made back-to-back threes and the run was finished up by a three from freshman Keaton to force a Newburg timeout. The lead ballooned to 20 as the Lady Cats cruised to a 61-45 victory and their fifth Frisco Tournament Championship in six seasons.

Medlock led with 29 points (7/12 from three-pointers) and 6 rebounds; Taylor tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals; Ingram had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists; Abbie Sullins had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists; Cook 4 points and 4 rebounds; Keaton 3 points and Wallace added 3 boards.

“The girls got it down in the second half tonight on both ends. We wanted to keep a fast pace to force Newburg to use their bench and to try and gas them out for the second half. The girls kept them running and we eventually pulled away after a big run in the third.” Coach Rissler