by Rusty Ellis
The Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats battled back from two different nine-point deficits to take down Cumberland County 38-36 on Tuesday night.
The two defenses were stout early on, and it was LA who got the best of Cumberland in the first quarter with a 5-3 lead heading into the second quarter.
After the Lady Wildcats scored the first three points of the quarter, the Lady Jets embarked on a 14-0 run to take a 17-8 lead, the first of their two nine-point leads in the game. Livingston scored the final four points of the frame to bring themselves within five points at halftime with a 17-12 score.
Cumberland County appeared poised to pull away in the third, scoring the first four points to put themselves up 21-12. Livingston battled back once again however, scoring the final nine points of the quarter to tie the score at 21-all heading into the fourth.
There, LA took a seven-point lead at 35-28, and held off a late barrage of Lady Jet threes to earn a season-sweep of Cumberland County with a 38-36 victory.
Ellie Butler led the way with a game-high 15 points, while Halle Ledbetter added a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double. Emery Baragona led CC with 14 points, and Abby Houston added 12 on the strength of four three-pointers.
Being down twice like that in a game is something the Lady Wildcats haven’t had to deal with lately, and while head coach Lesley Riddle believes there were things that her team could’ve done better, she was pleased that they lived through this one and earned the win.
“To fight back, I feel like it took a lot of mental toughness and belief,” Riddle said. “With this group, I don’t know how far we’ve been down before and come back to win, so I think it took a lot of mental toughness and relying on each other, and I don’t think we did that very well in the first half.”
One thing was clear for Riddle: if her team had to experience this and learn how to come back and win, she’s glad it happened on Tuesday and not in the district tournament.
“It’s good for us to live through that, so you’re ready if it comes in an elimination game,” Riddle said. “Games like tonight, you learn to trust each other more even when things go well.”
The Wildcats bounced back from a deflating loss at the hands of DeKalb last week with a dominant 76-50 win over the Jets in the boys game.
Things didn’t start off so well for Livingston however, as it appeared they might be in for a battle early. Cumberland kept things close and going into the second quarter, the score was all tied up at 10-all.
The second quarter saw LA explode at both ends of the floor however, as they outscored Cumberland 25-9 to take a 35-19 lead into the halftime break, a big momentum shift from how the Wildcats played in the first quarter.
Livingston cruised to the end from there, as they went on to take down the Jets 76-50, powered by a seven three-pointer performance from Tucker Miller.
That added up to a game-high 27 points from the freshman, and Cole Harris and Daniel Bilbrey added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Jaxon Reed paced Cumberland County with 19 points.
After the slow start, head coach Jimmy Miller says he was pleased with how his players were able to kick things into gear in the second quarter.
“I think we’ve struggled the last couple of games, so we were trying to come out and execute our style of play,” Miller said. “From there on, it looked like the team we’ve seen for most of the season. That’s the chemistry we’ve been looking to get back.”
Things don’t get any easier for the Wildcats on Friday, as they’ll head to Sparta to take on the White County Warriors.
“Just look at who’s in front of you, you’ve got White County at White County, so there’s not much else to say,” Miller said. “I know we’re going into a place where the other team wants to beat us by 30…I think our guys do a good job of understanding that. It’s February now, so you’ve got to show up if you want to advance.”
Cumberland County, meanwhile, will head to Baxter on Friday to take on Upperman.
