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'Cats Pick Up 1st Win With Blowout Of Richland
December 18th 2011 by Unknown
'Cats Pick Up 1st Win With Blowout Of Richland

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor


ESSEX - After dropping five straight games to open the 2011-2012 season, the Bearcats picked up their first win in blowout fashion on Friday night when they faced the Richland Rebels.

The Bearcats knocked down seven threes on their way to a 78-31 win against their first SCAA opponent.

“That’s something we talked about; we haven’t shot that many threes in our first few games, but as small as we are, that’s something that we’re going to have to do and get better at as the year goes on,” head coach Rob Nichols said after the game. “We’ve got some guys that can shoot it, but we haven’t taken many of those shots to this point.”

The Bearcats had a challenge on their hands in the paint with Richland’s near seven-foot center Richard Forshee; Tyler Miller and Jake Lee both did an outstanding job guarding the big man, and got him in foul trouble in the second and third quarters.

Miller and Chase Young paced the ‘Cats with 17 points each; D.J. Dowdy had nine off the bench, while Jordan Fitts knocked down seven points.
The Bearcats, aided by two threes from Miller and one from Young, opened up with 18 unanswered points before the Rebels scored in the final 90 seconds of the first quarter.

“That’s the main thing we wanted to do tonight, just get out to a good start and make sure we played well,” Nichols said.

/images/Sports/2011/Basketball/DHS/2011.12.16 - Richland/2011.12.16_IMG_5730.jpg The Rebels turned the ball over 34 times throughout the game; the ‘Cats were able to force many early due to their full-court pressure, which Nichols pointed out as more of a ‘test run’ for his team.

“We haven’t really pressed much this year, so we wanted to look at it tonight and see if we were going to be able to do it,” he said. :In the first few games we played man-to-man predominately; we just wanted to take a look at it and see if it worked.”

The ‘Cats were able to get some of their bench players some valuable action in the contest, with Bailey Hampton, Jonathan Page and Tyler Wilson playing extensively throughout the contest. Nick Noble, Stevie Payne, and Matt Ridlen were all able to see some of their first Varsity action of the season late in the contest.

Nichols pointed out how important picking up this first win was for team morale, but also noted the stiff SEMO Conference competition the ‘Cats faced early.

“It had started to weigh on them a little bit, but at the same time,they’ve gotta look at who they played,” he commented. “[The second game against] Jackson was a winnable game for us, but we just didn’t get it done. I thought we played well in the first game, against Charleston, but Sikeston just handed it to us. It’s good for confidence, that’s for sure.”

The JV squads were able to squeeze in two quarters of play after the Varsity contest. The young ‘Cats were led in scoring by Noble, with six points. Myles Urhan added four, while Devin Hampton, Austin Aldridge, and Drake Mitchell each chipped in three points in the Bearcats‘ 21-13 win.

The Bearcats will be in action again on Tuesday (Dec. 20) night, when they face off against the Scott City Rams in their last contest before the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

Nichols noted the Rams’ improvement from last season, and feels his team needs to bring their ‘A-game’ to pick up another W before Christmas Break.

“Scott City is an improved team from last year; they’ve got three kids that can really score from what I’ve seen on tape,” he said. “We’ll have to go over there and really play well to win that game.”

Tip is set for JV action at 6:00 p.m., with Varsity taking the courts at the conclusion of the JV contest.

/images/Sports/2011/Basketball/DHS/2011.12.16 - Richland/2011.12.15_BB_Richland_Stats.jpg


Last Updated on December 18th 2011 by Unknown




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