RICHMOND HILL -- The Richmond Hill Lady Cats (9-3, 1-1 Region 2-6A) were gifted an early Christmas present when the St. Vincent’s Academy Saints (3-5, 1-1 Region 3-A Private) visited from Savannah on Monday.
The Lady Cats went into the holiday prevailing over the Saints 40-24 behind Brionna Sutton’s game high eight points.
The Saints took a 3-0 lead early and were winning 5-2 before a Savannah Gravitt three pointer and a couple of buckets by Sutton helped the Lady Cats gain a 7-5 lead by the end of the first.
After that, the Lady Cats’ lead was never relinquished.
“Our first three possessions were turnovers,” Lady Cats Head Coach Sarah Jones said after the win. “I felt like we were super sloppy with the ball. I thought defensively we played super aggressive and got some easy scores off that. We just got to finish underneath. We just haven’t been scoring underneath the way we should. We just got to be able to finish it.”
In the second quarter the game was blown open when the Wildcats took an 18-7 lead over the Saints after a Ke’yanna Gupton second chance score that stayed until the break.
“I just think it was defense,” Jones said. “We got a lot of shots that weren’t falling, and we were turning the ball over. But defense definitely kept us in the game early and then allowed us to extend that lead. We call them ‘turkeys.’ That’s getting three stops in a row. That’s one turkey. Our goal is eight turkeys a game and we had 14 tonight. Those consecutive stops either keep you in the game or allow you to extend your lead.”
Makiyah Matthews and Kayden Lawrence scored back-to-back baskets to get in the board first in the second half from fastbreaks to take a 22-7 lead with a little over two minutes elapsed from the third quarter.
The quarter was more evenly matched as the Lady Cats edged out 10-9 in the third set of eight minutes.
And the Lady Cats held on to their lead to secure the win in their final contest before Christmas Day.
They will have an eight-day layoff as they will head to Hilton Head High School on Dec. 28 and then play against Hilton Head Prep and Hilton Head Christian on Dec. 30.
“Just going to give them a little bit of rest – hopefully they recover a little bit,” Jones said of the break. “And then we’ll come back and practice on Monday. It’s going to be a little bit of a stretch with three straight games but everybody’s in the same boat. You just got to get yourself prepared and get out there and play when your number’s called.”
In their first matchup on Dec. 4, the Lady Cats took a 42-25 over the Hilton Head High Seahawks.