Hardwood Heroes Sports
Week In Review: Lady Tomcats Continue Great Start; Boys Look to Find Momentum
By: Zach Paquette
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GLOUSTER, Ohio – Blake Guffey and company looked to build off of last Friday’s 19-point win over Belpre. On Tuesday, they hit the road and took on a young South Gallia team and they escaped with a tight 58-54 victory.
Trimble had the turnover bug early on, carrying over from the Belpre game. On top of that, Cam Kittle got in foul trouble early, forcing Coach Howie Caldwell to shake up his lineup.
The Tomcats jumped out to an early 28-20 lead, but the Rebels did not give up. After falling behind late in the fourth, the Tomcats now had to erase a deficit. They made a couple crucial free throws down the stretch to take the lead and the win.
Guffey and Brayden Weber combined for 37 points in the win while Sawyer Koons added 13 points of his own. The Tomcats are used to beating their opponents by 15-20 points, but Coach Caldwell feels these close games make the team stronger.
“Sometimes you have to play the close ones,” Caldwell said. “They’re character builders.”
The Tomcats looked to improve their sloppy game on Friday when they took on the Southern Tornadoes, but things didn’t get much better. The sloppy play continued, and the Tomcats fell to the Tornadoes 56-45 in a game where the Tomcats never led and shot poorly.
Guffey and Weber combined for 26 of the team’s 45 points as this game proved to be a major setback for the team. Coach Caldwell knows his team isn’t at its peak yet. Over time, he believes his team will find its stride once they get into “basketball shape.”
After a weekly split this week, the Tomcats stand with a 3-1 record. They’ll look to bounce back from the Southern loss next week when they face Eastern before traveling to Corning to face Miller to close out the week.
Heading into this week, the Trimble Lady Tomcats had all of the confidence in the world, having won both of their games the prior week, but they had a tough slate this week, playing three games in four days and they didn’t disappoint.
On Wednesday, the Lady Tomcats travelled to South Webster to take on the Jeeps in a highly anticipated tough matchup for the Lady Tomcats.
After a close matchup the whole way, the Jeeps did come out on top 52-47 over the Lady Tomcats. Coach Joe Richards was very pleased with his team’s efforts in this one and believes it all came down to the little things.
“They just made a couple more plays than us down the stretch,” Richards said.
Richards believed this game was a good test for his young team against a very good South Webster team.
Jayne Six led the way for the Lady Tomcats posting 17 points and seven rebounds. Brianna Orsborne added eight points, seven rebounds and five steals of her own, while Emily Calentine added nine points off the bench.
Emily Young, the Lady Tomcats’ most reliable scorer at times, was kept in check for the most part by the Jeeps. She scored six points, grabbed eight boards and dished out six assists.
The Lady Tomcats couldn’t hang their heads for too long after this loss as they hosted South Gallia the next night.
After jumping out to a commanding 17-6 lead in the opening period, the Lady Tomcats didn’t look back as they cruised to a 65-47 win over the Lady Rebels.
Four players scored in double figures with Six and Orsborne both leading the team with double-doubles. Six had 23 points and 12 boards and Orsborne had 12 points, a team-high 14 rebounds and four steals. Laikyn Imler had 15 points and five assists while Young added 11 points, six assists, and six rebounds.
This effort was exactly what Coach Richards hoped would happen following that loss the night before.
On Saturday, the Lady Tomcats concluded their action-pact week with a strong 59-51 victory on the road against Wahama. It was a good team win for the Lady Tomcats and the scoring reflected that.
Six different players scored for the Lady Tomcats on Saturday and in a tight game, every basket means so much.
Jayne Six led the way for the Lady Tomcats with 19 points and Imler added 14 points, including some key free throws down the stretch. Emily Young added 11 points and eight assists while Orsborne had six points. Emily Calentine had seven points of her own while Sophia Ives added a key bucket late in the fourth quarter.
After going 2-1 this week, the Lady Tomcats sit at 4-1 after two weeks of play and earned a well-deserved day off on Sunday. Coach Richards is very impressed with his team through these first two weeks.
“We’re growing as a team and we want to play up to our ability every night,” Richards said. “Our energy level so far this season has been very consistent this year. I thought it was very inconsistent at times last year.”
No back-to-backs next week for the Lady Tomcats, but they do face two big games. On Monday, they travel to Racine to play Southern before hosting Miller on Thursday.