Junior High Lady Cats Basketball Roundup (11/19/19)
(Photos by Walter Smith from match-up with Clarion-Limestone)
(By Coach Christina Toth
Monday, November 4th at Moniteau
A Game: Moniteau 38 – Clarion 11
(Gia Babington – 7 points, Anna Gribik – 2 points, Taylor Alston – 2 points)
Clarion met a very talented Moniteau team in the Warrior’s gym. Moniteau has a skillful set of athletes that made tonight’s game a challenge. Their press and trapping made getting the ball down the court quite difficult for the Lady Cats. Even though it was a tough match, Clarion never gave up and continued to give it their all. Coach Toth was satisfied that they never hung their heads and continued to push through the uphill game.
B Game: Moniteau 19 – Clarion 12
(Sophie Babington – 8 points, Brenna Armstrong – 2 points, Natalie Durish – 2 points)
Moniteau was a very aggressive offensive and defensive team and they fed off this energy, throughout the whole game. Our girls were resilient and battled the whole game, but ultimately lost to a better team. We as coaches were still happy to see the girls rise to the level of their competition, and not give up once they got down.
Wednesday, November 6th at Clarion
A Game: Clarion-Limestone 40 – Clarion 8
(Alexis Sobalvarro – 4 points, Mercedes Cunningham – 2 points, Sophie Babington – 2 points)
Another tough loss for the Lady Cats tonight. With coming off a rough loss against Moniteau, C-L was another extremely tough team to compete with. C-L had a very quick fast paced type of play that made it tough for Clarion to offensively take control. Even though it was a major deficit from the beginning of the game, the Clarion Lady Cats continued to improve and minimize their turnovers throughout the game.
B Game: Clarion-Limestone 29 – Clarion 14
(Sophie Babington – 6 points, Natalie Durish – 4 points, Brenna Armstong – 2 points, Hayley Cratsley – 2 points)
Another solid defensive effort by our team, but we just could not get it going on the offensive end. The girls did an incredible job rebounding the ball and giving our offense second chances; we just couldn’t make them count. This was one of the first times our girls experienced a full court press and I was pleased with how well they handled the new situation.
Thursday, November 7th at Redbank Valley
A Game: Redbank Valley 19 – Clarion 16
(Anna Gribik – 11 points, McKayla Kerle – 2 points, Abi Frederick – 2 points, Gia Babington – 1 point)
What a fun game tonight against Redbank. Even though Clarion did not pull off the win, it was a game full of back and forth play. Clarion was able to utilize their strong offensive play and showed such great improvement since their first game this season. Rebounding also was an asset in allowing the Lady Cats to compete with Redbank and making it such a great game to watch and compete in.
B Game: Redbank Valley 29 – Clarion 2
(Sophie Babington – 2 points)
Redbank had a very impressive complete team that outmatched us from the start. I was pleased with the overall effort our girls gave, most important to me was coming away from this game learning from our experiences, which I can say they have done as a team. Games like this are good building blocks for future games.
Tuesday, November 12th at Clarion
A Game: Cranberry 20 – Clarion 18
(Alexis Sobalvarro – 8 points, Anna Gribik – 4 points, Gia Babington – 2 points, Abi Frederick – 2 points, Taylor Alston – 2 points)
What a heartbreaker of a game for the Lady Cats! Cranberry won the game with less than 15 seconds on the clock by draining a 3 to go up two. Even though it was counted as a loss for Clarion, the girls worked extremely hard at help defense and defending the hoop by limiting Cranberry to one-to-two shot chances. Alexis Sobalvarro did a wonderful job at rebounding and outletting the ball to keep it a fast paced, exciting game. Tough loss with a great shot by Cranberry to take the win!
B Game: Clarion 21 – Cranberry
(Sophie Babington – 11 points, Natalie Durish – 6 points, JJ Wilson – 4 points)
Our girls came out on fire from the offensive end and gave us an early lead that we did not look back from. It was a total team effort with great team defense, great rebounding, and most importantly good communication on the defensive end. It was a solid bounce back game after a few rough performances.
Thursday, November 14th at Karns City (Chicora Elementary)
A Game: Karns City 26 – Clarion 17
(Taylor Alston – 6 points, Gia Babington – 4 points, McKayla Kerle – 2 points, Abi Frederick – 2 points, Sophie Babington – 2 points, Anna Gribik – 1 point)
Even though this was a loss, it was the best all around offensive game the Clarion Lady Cats have played all season. They utilized their press break extremely well and did not allow Karns City’s 1-2-2 press to cause too much harm. Clarion kept their heads up and pushed the ball down the court to allow us to set up an offense or to score a quick bucket. As you can see, it was an all around team effort offensively.
B Game: Clarion 20 – Karns City 19 (Overtime)
(Sophie Babington – 8 points, Natalie Durish – 6 points, Brenna Armstrong – 4 points, Delaney McNamara – 2 points)
Wow! What an amazing game the Clarion Lady Cats experienced tonight! The game was back and forth all game! We thought Karns City was going to take the win with only 6 seconds remaining, two points up, and it being Clarion’s ball on the opposite side of the court. Sophie Babington showed perseverance however, and drove the entire length of the court, shot a 12 foot jumper and sunk it at the buzzer. That led us into a 3 minute overtime with the Lady Gremlins. Overtime did not disappoint, with the score continuing to go back and forth. Natalie Durish and Brenna Armstrong kept us in the game and ended up taking the astounding win by scoring in the overtime. What a win and experience Lady Cats!
November 18th at Clarion
A Game: Clarion 25 – Keystone 17
(Alexis Sobalvarro – 8 points, Abi Frederick – 5 points, Gia Babington – 4 points, Mercedes Cunningham – 2 points, McKayla Kerle – 2 points, Delaney McNamara – 2 points, Sophie Babington 2 points)
What a great win Clarion got tonight! They played strong throughout and kept a strong 8-10 point lead throughout the entire game. The Lady Cats are showing progress with continuing to be aggressive with both offensive and defensive rebounds. Help-side defense was a key to allowing the lady cats to stay in the lead and take a W tonight. Way to go Cats!
B Game: Keystone 19 – Clarion 7
(Sophie Babington – 2 points, JJ Wilson – 2 points, Alicyn Burford – 2 points, Emily Troese – 1 point)
Tonight was an off night for the Clarion Lady Cats B Team. With a game right after a weekend off, the girls seemed to be a little tired and lagging on the defensive end. Even though most of the girls were a little listless tonight, they still never gave up and were able to go on a little run the fourth quarter to spark some energy within the team. Let’s keep working at our last practices this week so continue to improve and take the win next game!
(Thanks to Coach Toth for this article and to Walt Smith for the photographs. Keep up the good work, Lady Cats!!!!)