Monday’s game at Irving College between the Lady Tigers and Dibrell Lady Wildcats proved to be the regular-season championship game.
With a 43-28 victory, powered by Callie Cathcart’s 15 points, Irving College clinched the top spot in the regular season by improving to 8-0 in the Warren County 7-8 grade girls elementary league.
Dibrell (6-2) came into the contest as the only team that had a chance to catch the Lady Tigers in the standings, but the Lady Wildcats weren’t able to stop Irving College on their home court – especially the league’s leading scorer.
Cathcart became the first girl in the league to notch 100 points this season as she led the Lady Tigers to their eighth straight victory. Cathcart was instrumental down the stretch in helping Irving College seal the victory while Candace Wanamaker did most of the heavy lifting on offense in the first half.
Dibrell designed its defense to limit the productivity of Cathcart, who averages 13.5 points per game, and Caylie Sherrell – the league’s second-leading scorer at 12.1 points per contest. It worked well in the first period as Cathcart only got free for a layup and Sherrell was held scoreless.
The Lady Wildcats couldn’t account for the contributions Wanamaker made though. With her teammates being corralled, Wanamaker stepped up with six points in the first quarter en route to an 11-point outing.
Cassity Wanamaker added a layup in the first period as well to push Irving College ahead 10-8. Brianna Young, coming off a season-high 20 points last week against Boyd, had four points for Dibrell in the first quarter.
Cathcart began to find some wiggle room in the Dibrell defense in the second quarter as she netted four points – the same production the Lady Wildcats would get as a team in the period. Cheslee Curtis added three points to help Irving College lead 23-12 at halftime.
Dibrell tried to mount a comeback in the second half behind baskets by Young, Grace Rains and MaKenna Mason in the third quarter, but Cathcart’s three-point play late in the period gave Irving College a 28-19 edge entering the final quarter.
In the last six minutes, Irving College put the game away as its two top scorers took center stage. Sherrell’s three-point play with three minutes left put the Lady Tigers up 37-23 and Cathcart would connect on 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to keep Dibrell at bay.
Curtis and Cassity Wanamaker had six points for the Lady Tigers while Sherrell finished with five.
Young led Dibrell with seven points, followed by Mason, Rachel Johnson and Bailey Barrett with five points each. Rains added four while Tayler Watson chipped in two.