Polk County Sports

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BRIAN BESCH | PCE Chris Washington leans in for the dunk attempt.

By Brian Besch

The Lions established an early lead with its defense versus Liberty Tuesday, winning a 61-35 contest over the Panthers.

A 20-2 lead early in the second quarter was enough to allow Livingston to coast for a while. They did coast, and Liberty closed the advantage to 10 points at 25-15 early on in the third quarter. 

"The first half, we played OK, but we still didn't play with a lot of energy," Livingston coach Calvin Phillips said. "Then, we came back in the second half and I thought we were going too slow. We talked about putting more man-to-man full court pressure on in the second half so we could get ourselves going. That kind of helped us out."

The man-to-man defense indeed helped, as Livingston scored 23 points in the period to quell any chance of a Panther comeback. 

Chris Washington led the way with a dozen points, while Izzy Enard had 11 and Julian Gardner added nine.

"I will take a win any way that it goes," Phillips said. "We are back tied for fourth now and we've got Hamshire-Fannett. If we can get them, that would be a big win for us right there."

Livingston fell to Hamshire-Fannett in the first round by seven points. The hope is they can take a week to prepare with an open date Friday and get a win that would propel the team into playoff contention. The Longhorns are currently tied for fourth place with the Lions. 

Phillips said his first year as head coach at Livingston is not going how he planned.

"I don't like where I am at, I will be upfront with you on that. When I stepped in the gym at the beginning of the year, I saw the size and athleticism of those guys. I thought we would probably be in the running. We started off 5-0 and dropped off and started playing very erratic. It's kind of been disappointing, but I will still take what we have. I am hoping that we will finish up strong and peak out in the second half and get some more wins."

The coach said that he wonders if all of his athletes are committed to him or if they are still trying to figure him out the same way he is trying to figure them out.

"They don't know how to take me. I get on them hard sometimes and in this time and age, some kids don't take that kind of coaching anymore. You have to be more positive and not run them so much in a negative mode. I'm learning them and they are learning me, and if we can get in that fourth spot (playoff seed), that would be a blessing."

The coach said in order to reach the postseason, his team's shooting would need to improve so the half-court offense can be more productive. The team now relies heavily on its defense to create offense.

After the road trip to Hamshire-Fannett Tuesday, the Lions will host district leaders Huffman Hargrave next Friday.

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BRIAN BESCH | PCE Kenadi Houser shoots for two in the lane.

By Brian Besch

The Onalaska Lady Cats proved just how far the team has come in a month's time, defeating New Waverly 63-27 Friday by the lake.

In their first meeting, the Lady Dogs took a 51-37 match from December. Whether revenge, redemption, payback or just the will to win, Onalaska left little doubt from the start. They took an early 14-4 lead and led by 11 by the end of the first period. 

A quarter later, the advantage grew to 32-12.

"If you go back to the game that we played at New Waverly, it wasn't even the same team," Onalaska coach Ashley Sustaita said. "We have done a complete rehaul of attitude and mindsets. They are totally bought in to their role and their job, and it's all 12 of them. They do such a good job of doing what I need them to and what the team needs them to do."

The struggles for New Waverly continued, as a suffocating Lady Cat defense held the opponent to just 14 points through three quarters. 

"We don't have a dominant kid and we've had teams try to box-and-one us," Sustaita said. "We just have such a great team right now and it is awesome to be a part of."

Sustaita feels each player knowing their role and how they fit into the team was the problem before. That appears to be settled, with the team shuffling five girls in and out and each playing a part.

"It's easy to want to be the top dog or not have any responsibility. I'm very open with my girls and very transparent with what I want them to do to be successful. We definitely put 'we' before 'me' every single day.

"I always tell my kids that we don't have starters. We have five kids that I think we need to start the game, but they know that it may not be the five that we need to finish the game to win it for us. Being ready on the bench and being active in the game is so important."

Kierra Anstee led the Lady Cats with 19 points, Kenadi Houser and Jordyn Shutter each had a dozen, and Maddie Stelck had eight.

"We have some freshmen who have stepped up defensively and have done a good job. It has been awesome to see our juniors take them under their wing and be excited for them. 

"On the last play, it was a freshman that shot the ball and my junior point guard is over there losing her mind for her. That is family and it is what we preach. I think we've done a good job of changing the culture here for women's basketball at Onalaska."

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BRIAN BESCH | PCE Michael Hamilton led all scores with 14 Tuesday night.

By Brian Besch

A stifling defense made for easy offense as Big Sandy breezed past Spurger 83-13 Tuesday. Turnovers gave the game the look of a layup drill at times, as the Wildcats led by 17 after the first quarter and 33 at the half.

Nearly at full strength, the Wildcats were too much for Spurger. The Pirates’ best quarter was in the first, scoring five points. Meanwhile the Big Sandy attack never amassed fewer than 19 points in a period.

“We’ve got nearly everybody back,” Wildcat coach Kevin Foster said with a bit of relief. “We went on a stretch from Thanksgiving until Dec. 28 where we constantly had two or three guys out. We've played a lot of bigger schools, so it has been tough on us. I kept telling the kids that it will prepare us for the long run, even though we are taking our lumps now.”

The ‘Cats spread the wealth, with each of the eight players scoring at least four points. Michael Hamilton was tops amongst them with 14. Elias Bullock scored 13, Kaden Foster and Josi Celestine both had a dozen, and Adrian Thompson had 10.

“The last few games we have really worked on getting the ball up and we go through stretches where we struggle to score,” Foster said. “We need to get into our offense quicker and really transition and fast-breaking. We have done a better job of that as of late. I feel like the one thing that we've done well for the past couple of games is defend. We’ve also rebounded well all year long.”

Much the same as the girls, Foster believes Friday's game at West Sabine will be in an important one for his Wildcats. The two schools were projected by many to finish first and second in the district.

“It is going to be a challenging and difficult game, but that's what makes it fun,” the coach said. “I told the kids that we will be focused these next two days in practice to get ready to play. They probably have the best individual player in the district. He has started for them since he was a freshman and is a junior now. They have some good athletes and we are looking forward to it.”

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by Brian Besch

The Leggett Lady Pirates established an early lead and coasted to a 59-41 win Friday over Goodrich. 

Shooting well through the first half, Leggett entered the locker room after doubling the Lady Hornets’ output, 34-17. 

“They played good defense and they moved the ball,” Lady Pirate coach Terri Barlow said following her 251^stvictory. “We got down and moved our feet and we worked together as a team a lot better. We need to work on rebounding and boxing out.”

Erika Hansen led all scores with 28 points. She connected on four 3-pointers and a couple of free throws in the effort.

“(Hansen) is a senior and I am glad for the way she is stepping up and getting the team together. Pretty much all of them can shoot and they were all pretty hot tonight. I was proud of them. Our (Addison Hinson) stepped up and got six (hitting two 3-pointers). All of them hit some big shots.”

Outside shooting aided the large early lead for the Lady Pirates, as the team hit four shots from behind the arc in both the first and second quarter. Kylie Valderez was responsible for four 3-pointers herself, scoring 13 for the night.

Latrina Morgan was tops for the Lady Hornets with 18 points, followed by Breya Passmore with 10 and Aralyn Angel with nine.

Leggett was not slowed until the fourth period, when they were outscored 17-9 by a Goodrich team that finally found post players Morgan and Passmore.

“I feel like we played harder than we did last game,” Goodrich coach Khadijah Carter said. “We had a slow start, then we kind of picked it up toward the end. It was a little bit too late. I feel like they were more into it today than what they have been.

“I like how when we got the ball inside, we scored. We did not do a good job of covering them from shooting threes. If we were able to stop them from shooting threes and got the ball inside, it could have been a better game. We need to run more high-low and we are doing a way better job of getting it into the post. It is what we were working on during the break.”

Leggett is currently 2-2 with losses to Chireno and Zavala. Barlow feels like her team shouldn't have lost to Zavalla and thinks there is still a good chance her team can still obtain a second-place finish in district. 

Barlow was awarded before the game for achieving 250 victories as Leggett’s coach.

“It's the same and I never would have known how many wins I had if it wasn't for (Pirate) Coach Sean Edwards,” she said of the honor. “I wasn't really keeping up with it. It feels the same. It is a great accomplishment, but a win is a win, and we will keep on going.”