By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BROSELEY - Paige Patterson and Brittany Harris’ pure domination in the paint was enough to lift the Lady Bearcats to a 78-22 win over the Doniphan Donettes in the Lady Royals Christmas Classic.


The duo combined for 34 points, 18 boards, nine blocks, and eight steals in the Lady Bearcats’ fifth-straight victory, all of which had an at least 30-point margin of victory.

“We definitely outsized them a little bit in the paint with Paige and Brittany,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said. “We did a good job of getting the ball inside to them and they had a big night because of it.”

The Bearcats had a ‘perfect storm’ during the big win: they shot 57% from the floor, held the Donettes to just 22%, and forced 31 turnovers in the contest.

“I think we shot around 57%, and we held them to 20-something,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the game. “I thought our girls did a tremendous job defensively tonight. Not only in our full-court in the first half, but in our half-court in the second half, I thought it was probably the best we played all year.”


The Bearcats opened the contest with a 20-0 run, aided by six point efforts by Harris and Mollie Whitehead. The press was executed to near-perfection throughout the first half, as the Lady ‘Cats were shutting out the Donettes until the 1:10 mark in the first quarter.

The Donettes fought back in the second quarter with a six point run early, but Whitehead knocked down a three at the 4:00 mark to spark a 29 point second quarter for the Lady ‘Cats. Dexter held a commanding 49-16 lead at the half.

Hannah Noe had an old-fashioned three point play midway through the third that was quickly followed by another Whitehead three. The ‘Cats put up 15 unanswered to open the second half, and held a 72-21 lead at the end of the third.

Katie Reiker and Brianna Bowers got more valuable playing time in the fourth quarter. The Lady ‘Cats held the Donettes to just one point in the fourth to take the 78-22 victory and advance to the semifinals of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic.

The Lady ‘Cats will be in action again on Wednesday (Dec. 21) night, when they face Neelyville.

“Coach Hale always does a good job with them. They have great pride in their program, and they have good teams all the way down into middle school,” Allen said. “We played them in middle school ball this year, and they’re always tough to play against. I know they lost some players from last year, but they’ve moved some girls up that have been successful in the past. They’ll always bring a tough, competitive ball club over.”


Tipoff for the semifinal contest is set for 6:00 p.m.