Lady Cats miss out first time since ’96

Published 11:22 pm Tuesday, February 17, 2009

It was Black Tuesday for Dalton’s Lady Catamounts in Powder Springs.

Hillgrove’s Tala Black scored 24 points, Dalton couldn’t overcome 25 turnovers and the Lady Hawks whipped the Lady Cats, 63-47, in the second round of the Region 7-4A tournament.

The disappointing loss snapped Dalton’s string of 12 straight state tourney appearances that started in the 1996-97 season. The fifth-seeded Lady Cats, with junior standout Markisha Washington saddled with fouls most of the game, closed the season at 18-9.

Fourth-seeded Hillgrove (17-7), which has won six in a row and 12 of its last 13 games, advanced to a semifinal matchup against top-seeded Northwest Whitfield on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Woodland-Bartow High School in Cartersville. The Lady Hawks also earned a spot in the state tournament. Northwest defeated Cass, 53-37, in Tunnel Hill.

Black, a 5-foot-6-inch junior guard, riddled Dalton’s defense for 15 first-half points as the Lady Hawks built a 34-27 advantage.

Washington had three fouls and sat on the bench for the final four minutes of the second quarter. She picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter and fouled out with 5:57 left in the game and finished with seven points.

Sophomore guard Amanda Rector led Dalton (18-9) with 20 points and senior Emily Broadrick added 10 in her final game with the Lady Cats. April Besley had seven points.

Washington’s bucket to open the third quarter cut Hillgrove’s lead to 34-29. The Lady Hawks’ Maisie Steed and Rector swapped field goals, but Hillgrove scored five straight points in quick fashion to open a 42-31 lead.

Two Broadrick free throws and Besley’s rebound putback pulled Dalton to within 42-35 as the third quarter wound down.

Hillgrove, which led by 12 points three times, outscored Dalton 9-4 and led 53-39 on Steed’s two free throws with 3:24 remaining.

The Lady Hawks made just two field goals in the fourth quarter, but hit 15-of-22 free throws over the final eight minutes as they continued to pull away from the Lady Cats.

Steed finished with 14 points for Hillgrove and Larryqua Hall pulled down 14 rebounds.

The Lady Cats trailed most of the first quarter until Broadrick made 1-of-2 free throws and Rector drilled a 3-pointer, giving Dalton an 11-9 lead. The Lady Hawks outscored Dalton 4-1 the rest of the quarter and had a 13-12 advantage.

Washington’s bucket and another 3-pointer by Rector gave the Lady Cats a 17-16 lead early in the second quarter. But the Lady Hawks, who came into the game riding a five-game winning streak, scored two quick goals to regain the lead at 20-18.

Besley hit a free throw, but a series of crippling turnovers helped Hillgrove score 11 straight points to grab a 31-19 lead. The last Hillgrove basket in that run came from Black.

Over the remaining 3:37 of the second quarter, Dalton outscored Hillgrove 8-3 and trailed 34-27 at the break. Broadrick had half of Dalton’s eight points in the closing run. Rector finished the half with 10 points.

Dalton coach Jeff McKinney did not return several messages on his cell phone seeking comment for this story.

The Region 7-4A boys tournament continues today with its second round and Murray County’s Indians and Northwest Whitfield’s Bruins both will hit the road in hopes of securing a state tourney berth. A win for either means a spot in the Class 4A state bracket, while a loss for either signals the season’s end.

Murray County, the tourney’s No. 5 seed, heads to Marietta to face fourth-seeded Osborne. The Indians beat South Paulding 59-47 during Saturday’s first round, while Osborne topped Allatoona 66-49. Osborne beat Murray County 65-48 on Jan. 13 in a regular-season matchup.

Northwest Whitfield, the tourney’s seventh seed, will also be in Marietta to face No. 2 seed Sprayberry. The Bruins beat Woodland 56-45 in the first round of the region tourney, while Sprayberry defeated North Paulding 71-52. During the regular season, Sprayberry beat Northwest 63-48.

Southeast’s boys and girls, who won the consolation finals in the 6A-3A sub-region tourney on Saturday, both play in the first round of the Region 6-3A tourney Thursday at Allatoona High. The Lady Raiders play Cartersville at 4 p.m., while the boys play Cedartown at 5:30.

Both of those games are also for spots in the Class 3A tourneys, while losses will mean the end of the season.

Varsity soccer

• Dalton boys 7, Heritage-Catoosa 0: Ricky Rodriguez scored three goals and added an assist for the Cats (2-0).

Heriberto Hernandez, Israel Mata, Angel Arellano and Ildiberto Suazo scored one goal apiece. Suazo and Jose Rangel each had two assists.

Antonio Ovara and Jose Gonzalez combined for the shutout in goal. Ovara had four saves and Gonzalez two.

• Northwest Whitfield boys 4, LaFayette 1: Eduardo Aguero had two goals and the Bruins (4-0) outshot the Ramblers 28-7, for the victory.

Jorge Solarzano and Fabian Hernandez each scored one goal for the Bruins while Giovanni Villa and Mauricio Morales had assists.

• Dalton girls 2, Heritage-Catoosa 1: Rachel Czyz scored a direct-kick goal with about one minute left, giving the Lady Cats their second win of the season against a tie.

Imelda Cortez scored the Lady Cats’ first goal about 20 minutes into the first half. Heritage tied the match early in the second half.

Dalton goalie Julie Parham recorded 10 saves.

Varsity golf

• Murray County boys 318, Southeast 429: The Indians’ Tyler Simpson shot a 4-over-par 76 to win medalist honors at Spring Lakes Golf Course, which was playing to 6,298 yards.

Chase Jones shot 80, Zach Gibson 80, and Caleb Langford 82 for Murray County.

Josh Wilson led Southeast with a 96 while Jake Rakely posted a 97, Chris Clayton 115 and Zack Sneed 121.

JV soccer

• Northwest Whitfield boys 11, LaFayette 1: Manny Pacheco, Mario Perez, Alberto Pedro, Jorge Solarzano and Juan Fraire scored two goals apiece in the Bruins’ rout. Jose Delcid scored the other goal for Northwest (2-0).