Lady ‘Cats end second in district

The Licking Lady Wildcats entered the District 10 tournament as the second seed, behind first seed Mansfield, with both teams earning first round byes. Number three seed Thayer defeated number six seed Houston, and number four seed Mtn. View/Liberty defeated number five seed Seymour in the first round of action on Tuesday, February 21.

Licking faced Thayer and Mansfield was pitted against Mtn. View in Thursday’s semifinals.

Licking defeated Thayer in a squeaker, 57-55, after trailing by 8 at halftime and the end of the third. Kaida Cook scored 14 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, and her teammates kicked in an additional 6 to outpace Thayer for the win. Hannah Medlock led scoring with 20 points, and Abbie Sullins also scored in double figures with 13.

Mtn. View/Liberty was no match for Mansfield and fell 34-46, leaving the top two seeds in the tournament final. It would be a rematch of last year’s District 10 final, in which Licking came out on top.

The Mansfield Lady Lions had their turn this year, with a 43-34 defeat of the Lady Wildcats. Mansfield led by 2 at the end of the first, and Licking by 2 at the half and by four at the end of three. But a 19-6 fourth quarter for Mansfield made the difference.

Hannah Medlock, Kaida Cook and Abbie Sullins earned spots on the Class 3 District 10 All District team.

“You will see nothing but smiles from me,” said Coach Rissler on the Lady Wildcat Basketball Facebook page. “The girls gave their absolute best effort tonight. We played well enough to win but it didn’t work out. The margin for error in these types of games is very slim. The ball bounces one inch in a different direction, etc., and we could have been the champions. A deep playoff run takes skill, timing and some luck. We just missed out on some of that luck…or we used it up vs. Thayer and Steelville.”