Dalton humbles Ridgeland

Published 11:57 pm Friday, January 27, 2006

Whether it’s the first night of the regular season or senior night, Dalton’s No. 6-ranked girls basketball team can be counted on to ratchet up the pressure and hit the lights on the opposition.

In the Lady Cats’ regular season home finale Friday night, they did both those things and more, humiliating a talented Ridgeland team, 56-30, in the third-to-last game on the schedule.

Dalton improved its mark to 21-2 overall and 14-2 in Region 7-4A play with the victory. The Lady Cats visit Southeast tonight and archrival Northwest Whitfield next Friday night before preparing for the region tournament Feb. 6-11 at the trade center.

“The girls did a good job tonight,” said Dalton coach Jeff McKinney. “Hopefully it’s not the last time we will play at what we call the Cats’ Den, but there was the possibility of that, and we wanted to make sure we won our last game here.”

Stars were aplenty for the Lady Cats, who never trailed in the contest. Lacie Coquerille led the way with 25 points and six 3-pointers, five of them in the first half. The tireless defensive play of Jerrica Johnson paid dividends again — the junior finished with eight steals to run her team-leading total to 93.

“Jerrica’s our Energizer Bunny on defense,” said McKinney. “Our defense usually starts and stops with how Jerrica plays. She has a great way of getting her hands on the ball.”

Dalton’s press recorded 17 steals and forced 27 Ridgeland turnovers. The Lady Panthers (13-9, 9-7) opened by trying to make it a half-court game, but Dalton was too overpowering in transition in using a 13-0 run to grab a 20-9 lead after a quarter.

Coming back from injury, Ridgeland center Connie Buchanan presented the only real threat Dalton encountered. Buchanan had nine points in the first half, but was held scoreless by sophomore Liz Coffey in the second half.

“Liz did a tremendous job,” McKinney said.

Rigdeland’s offense was so lifeless for most of the game that the Lady Panthers managed just nine points over a chunk of 16:21 — spanning from the second to the final period.

“They’re a pretty good team,” McKinney said of the Lady Panthers. “This was a good win for us.”

Whitney Mayo scored 15 points, drained three 3-pointers and went 5-of-7 from thefree-throw line. She and fellow senior Stephanie Susen were presented gifts and flowers by athletics director Ronnie McClurg.

Representing the boys, seniors Sam Shacklett, Sinclair Myers and their families were honored in the senior night ceremonies.

Ridgeland boys 46, Dalton 43: Nigel Nicholas’ bucket with 50 seconds left was enough to erase a one-point deficit and move the Panthers past host Dalton with second place in the Region 7-4A North standings at stake.

The win spoiled likely the final home appearance for Dalton big man Sam Shacklett, who scored a team-high 14 points in a losing effort for the Cats (9-13, 7-10).

In a game marred by fouls and poor performances at the free-throw line, the teams played to a 6-6 stalemate after one period with neither able to gain a clear advantage. Ridgeland (11-10, 8-7) held a 36-32 lead early in the fourth quarter before Lemond Searels nailed a 3-pointer and Justin Suttles hit a pair of free throws to give the Cats a lead with just over five minutes to play.

Shacklett buried a 3 around the three-minute mark to snap a 40-all tie and give the Cats their final lead of the game. Nicholas’ eventual game-winning basket preceded a Dalton turnover with 33.8 seconds to play, and Dalton’s attempted tying 3 missed the mark with no time left.

The Cats visit Southeast tonight in a traditional rivalry at the Raiders’ court.