Lady ‘Cats defeat St. James and add two conference wins
Coach Steve Rissler
The Lady Hornets of Laquey traveled to the comfy confines of the Sherman Hill Fieldhouse on Thursday for a Frisco League Matchup.
Licking started fast, jumping out to a 10-0 lead before back-to-back threes from Laquey made it a game for a little bit. The girls didn’t panic and kept on grinding away at the Hornet 122 zone. The girls used good passing to get easy looks to get the lead to 30+ heading into the final quarter. The turbo clock was in use the entire fourth quarter.
Licking used balanced scoring and different lineups to keep the heat on the Hornets and pulled away for the easy 57-25 Frisco victory.
Kiley Ingram had 11, Hannah Medlock 10, Abbie Sullins 10, Kaida Cook 9, Kylie Taylor 7, Allie Hock 4, Kinley Keaton 4 and JoJo Wells 2.
“This isn’t the same Laquey team as in the recent past. They have nine wins and have some stability at the head coach spot. I liked our decision-making tonight vs their 3/4 122 zone.” – Coach Steve Rissler
The Lady Cats traveled to St. James to face the always tough Lady Tigers on Monday in the battle of state-ranked teams. Licking was ranked third in Class 3 and St. James was ranked fifth in Class 4.
The Lady Tigers started strong behind aggressive defense and jumped out to a 7-0 lead. A quick timeout allowed the Lady ‘Cats to regroup and get back in the game. The two teams traded leads throughout the first half but late in the second quarter the Lady Tigers hit back-to-back threes to take a six-point lead into halftime.
The third quarter was all Licking as the girls handled the pressure defense to get layups or open threes in transition. Medlock got going from downtown to help Licking win the third period 24 to 7. The ‘Cats led by 11 with a quarter to play. Abbie Sullins scored several in transition to swell the lead to as much as 16, but St. James made a run. The Lady Tigers took advantage of missed FTS by Licking to cut the lead to as little as 4, but key defensive boards sealed the game for the visitors from Texas County.
Sophomore Medlock led all scorers with 24 points, Abbie Sullins added 13 (all in the second half), Cook added 10, Ingram 8, Taylor 4 and Linzie Wallace 1.
“This was a great win for the program. I could see the game slowing down for the girls in the second half. They adjusted well to St. James’ physical defense and made them pay on the back end of the press. We are where we want to be with basically a month left of the season.” – Coach Rissler
Licking made the long road trip to Iberia Jan. 3 to take on the massive Iberia Lady Rangers. The Lady Rangers have a 6’ 3” center to go with multiple 6’ girls. Iberia’s height proved to be no issue for the Lady ‘Cats as they used their length to wreak havoc on the opposing guards. Medlock was hot from the three line to put this game out of reach early. Iberia never really got in a groove and Licking cruised to a 69-31 road victory.
Medlock had 21, Taylor 10, Zoey Dawson 9, Ingram 7, Sullins 5, Keaton 5, Cook 4, Wells 4, Finley Sullins 2, and Hock 2 for LHS.
“Our girls did a great job of finding shooters in transition and making the correct decisions versus Iberia’s funky zone. When they went to a man defense, our younger girls scored several layups off of Flex cuts. I really enjoy seeing them all find success on the Varsity level. These girls genuinely want each other to be successful.” – Coach Rissler
