by Rusty Ellis
It was a successful start for Livingston Academy in district play on Friday, as they swept Macon County at home.
The Lady Wildcats opened with a dominant 62-38 win over the Tigerettes, as it all started with a first quarter that saw them take a 19-7 lead on the strength of seven first-quarter points from Ellie Butler.
Macon County managed to trim the lead down to six points late in the second quarter, but the Lady Wildcats closed the first half on a 10-4 run to keep the margin at 12 with their 35-23 lead at the break.
The third quarter is where Livingston broke things open, as they limited Macon to just six points in the frame to run the lead up to 51-29 entering the fourth. From there, LA cruised to the finish-line for a 24-point victory to start 1-0 in district play.
Butler led all scorers with 24 points, while Halle Ledbetter scored 15 points of her own. Allie Thompson paced Macon County with 14 points.
Despite the dominant win, head coach Leslie Riddle kept things in perspective. While a win to open district play is great, there’s still plenty for LA to work on.
“I think we got better defensively as the game went along,” Riddle said. “We missed some easy shots that we should make, we turned things over a little bit. We were just sloppy.”
When it came to extending the lead, LA did so with excellent play in transition. Using their speed to get into fast breaks off of misses is something Riddle knows her team needs to do to be successful.
It also helps that her players want to get out on the break and run, simply because they enjoy it.
“I feel like we can score in the half-court if someone makes us, but the kids don’t enjoy that as much,” Riddle said. “It’s important that they enjoy what they’re doing because it’ll make them play harder.”
A sloppy win is still better than a loss in anyone’s book, and at the top of the list of things she wants her team to do better, Riddle says it comes down to valuing possessions and rotating better on defense.
“Our help-side defense has to be better,” Riddle said. “I think we got better in the second half…the turnovers also drive me crazy.”
On the boys side of things, Livingston jumped out to a 20-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and also cruised to the end of a 57-36 victory over the Tigers.
After taking that early 18-point lead, Livingston continued to pressure Macon into turnovers to build the lead to 39-12 at the end of the first half.
Both teams scored 11 points in the third frame, as the Wildcats slowed things down and maintained their lead. A 13-7 advantage in the fourth quarter for Macon County wouldn’t be enough to mount a comeback, and Livingston finished off the doubleheader sweep of the Tigers in dominant fashion.
Leading the way for LA was Wyatt Hargis with 15 points, while Isaac Story added 12. Brady Driver led Macon County with 12 points on 5-8 shooting from the floor.
The hot start was something that head coach Jimmy Miller was especially pleased with.
“I was excited that we came in from the jump and executed our game-plan,” Miller said. “We were extremely disciplined for a group of young guys that’s still learning…I was really glad that our guys came out and executed in the first half.”
Offensively, the 20-2 start for the Wildcats is something Miller’s been looking for since the start of the season. He knows that in the district Livingston plays in, slow starts are something that can cost you games.
“We’ve got to be able to start games well, and that’s something that we’ve struggled with,” Miller said. “You can’t come out and start slow against the top four or five teams in our district. If you get down, you’re going to stay there for most of the game.”
Starting out 1-0 in league play is always a good thing, and Miller says he’s just hoping his team continues to build on it.
“It’s huge, we’ll take a win any way we can get it,” Miller said. “This district is tough…our coaches are phenomenal and hard to prepare for, and they prepare well for us. Any win we can get, we’re glad to get it.”
LA’s next action will see their teams split up on Tuesday for different tournaments, while Macon County will take on Jackson County on Tuesday.
