by Rusty Ellis
The Upperman Lady Bees took one step closer to forcing a tiebreaking coin-flip with Livingston Academy on Tuesday night, as they defeated the Lady Wildcats 51-45 in Livingston to split the season-series.
After a close first-quarter saw the Lady Bees take a 19-17 lead, Upperman’s defense took over in the second and held Livingston to just four points in the quarter to push the lead up to 33-21 at the halftime break.
The star of the first half was freshman Taylor Dolente, who knocked down a trio of three-pointers and scored all of her team-high 16 points in the first half.
Livingston cut back into the deficit by holding Upperman to four points in the third quarter, but they could only muster up seven of their own. The Lady Wildcats continued to battle in the fourth, led by Aleah Melton’s nine points in the frame, but it wasn’t enough for them to overcome the Lady Bee defense, as Upperman earned a split of the season-series with a six-point victory.
In addition to Dolente’s 16, Upperman also got 10 points apiece from Jayla Cobb and Abigail Johnson. Melton led the way for Livingston with 17 points.
Dolente’s big first-half performance is what ultimately made the difference for Upperman and head coach Dana McWilliams.
“We’ve talked about Taylor and Gracie Butler a lot this year, and what two fantastic freshmen,” McWilliams said. “Taylor was such a spark early. She really stretched the defense, and that’s normal for her. We’re really proud of her for that.”
The Lady Bees will now turn their attention to Friday, as they hit the road to Smithville to take on DeKalb County, and McWilliams knows her team still has to take care of business there for this game to have any meaning.
The scenario is pretty simple: if LA and Upperman both win on Friday, the top-seed for the district will come down to a coin flip. If one loses and the other wins, no coin flip is needed.
“It’s everything, I told them if they don’t take of business Friday, tonight doesn’t really matter, and Friday isn’t going to be easy,” McWilliams said. “I feel fairly confident that we won’t overlook anybody, and we’ve learned that from being in this district a long time.”
The Livingston Academy Wildcats earned a big comeback win over Upperman to clinch the two-seed in the district tournament with a 62-56 win over the Bees.
Upperman had the threes falling early, and it showed on the scoreboard in the form of a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bees stretched the lead even further there, as they outscored the Wildcats 15-10 to take a 35-21 lead into halftime, their largest of the game.
Livingston started to make their way back into the game by finishing in the paint and getting the free-throw line in the third, as they outscored Upperman 19-14 to get within striking distance at 49-40 Upperman heading to the fourth quarter.
There, the Wildcat defense completely took over the game by limiting the Bees to just seven points in the period, and LA used a big second-half effort from Brodey Coffee to take down Upperman 62-56 to clinch the second-seed in the district tournament.
Isaac Story paced all scorers with 20 points for the Wildcats, while Coffee added 12 points of his own. Brayden Roberts led the Bees with 14 points.
As far as what head coach Jimmy Miller told his team when they were down nine to start the fourth, he kept things really simple.
“(I told them to focus on) one play at a time,” Miller said. “We had to try to defend without fouling and I think the ball-pressure we put on them had them rattled a little bit…I feel like we were able to get them on their heels, and it gave us an opportunity to make our way back into the game.”
Every time Livingston has suffered a tough loss this season, the Wildcats have battled back the following game to get back into the win-column, something that Miller is proud of his guys for.
“These kids are some of the most fun I’ve had to coach,” Miller said. “We’ve got guys who want to be here and want to be competing, and all you’ve got to do is point them in the right direction.”
Livingston will host Stone Memorial on Friday, while Upperman makes the trip to Smithville to take on DeKalb County.
