8/7/2019 Ladycats vs. Birdville

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Busting past the zoneQ Ladycats putanother mark in the

win column withdistrict opener winover Birdville

By Dominic GenettiThe Community News

A zone defense set up by theBirdville Lady Hawks wasntstrong enough to stop the surg-ing Aledo Ladycats from cap-turing another win.

Aledo went on the road toopen district play of the 2010-2011 season against the North

Richland Hills high school andust like theyve been doing on

their home court, the Ladycatscontinued their aggressive playto capture a 66-31 victory.

It couldnt be more funright now, Aledo head coachRusty Johnson said. Winningis fun, but this group of girls isspecial.

Leading the Ladycats againin scoring was senior LoganMittie and sophomore MalloryPowell. The duo is usuallytaking and making a lot ofthree-point field goals on thecourt, but with Birdvilles zonedefense, they were forced tofind more holes and paths anddrive the ball to the net.

We were expecting a reallytough matchup and I think thathelped us kind of get out earlyon a lead, Mittie said. Themore we pressed, the better we

got at it.Mittie finished the night

with a total of 23 points scored.Powell capped off the evening

with 17 points.

The way they kept theircomposure and the way theyfinished strong hit the freethrows, passed the ball when

help came I though bothof them were outstanding,Johnson said of his top scor-ers.

Aledo held Birdville to10 points in the first quar-ter while they busted aheadand accumulated 21. Thezone defense kept the orangeand black at bay with only 14points in the second quarter, but even then Aledo found a way to score. Aggressive play

from freshman Megan Woodand junior Caileen Tallant gavethe Ladycats a large offensivepossession advantage and thequick feet of senior ShelbyStockard put the pressure hardon the Lady Hawks.

We just had to move theball quickly, get it to our shoot-ers, Stockard said.

A 56 guard, Stockard con-trolled a majority of the passesthroughout the game in thecenter of the court. Tallant tookcare of things along with Woodon the baseline.

They knew I was a shoot-er so I was using that to myadvantage to get a pump fakeattack, Tallant, who stands at510, said. I didnt get the callsI wanted, but that happenssometimes.

The Ladycats led 35-16 athalftime due in part from a

slower and paced offense thatcame into effect once Birdvilleszone was established in the sec-ond quarter.

Thats the key to a zone,Tallant said. You have to sloweverything down and CoachJohnson told us look for thegaps and set your feet and let itfly, thats what were really goodat, it worked out well for us.

Stockard and Tallant alsomanaged to play a role to theteams total points by scoringa few baskets of their own.Tallant finished the night withtwo points while Stockardaccumulated a total of four.

Our girls, they have onerule with the ball and thatsscore, Johnson said. Weve

held teams in the 30s...buttheres been games where athalftime other teams have 15points, thats just a credit totheir work ethic.

Birdville allowed 13 pointsfrom the Ladycats in the thirdquarter and 18 points in thefourth. On the defensive end, Aledo only allowed six LadyHawk points in the third quar-ter and nine in the fourth.

Rounding out the top shoot-ers on the night was sopho-more Bonte Frank and juniorsHannah Loftin and KaitlynJackson. Jackson, a 58 guard,came behind Mittie and Powellin the most points scored rank-ings with 11.

Theyre just a good group,Johnson said. Theyre exciting,theyre fun, theyre hard work-ing, theyre dedicated, theyre

accountable; every adjective you want to use for the teamfrom a coachs perspective. Imblessed to have them.

DOMINIC GENETTI/THE COMMUNITY NEWS

TOP: Aledo junior Caileen Tallant (No. 33) tries to get possession of the ball from a Birdville

defender in the teams district opener Dec. 14. The Ladycats won the game 66-31. | BOTTOM:Ladycat freshman Megan Wood (No. 23) drives the ball to the basket as two Birdville defend-

ers try to go in for the steal. The Ladycats scored 21 points in the first quarter alone and won

the game 66-31.