Wildcats even district record with win over Liberty-Eylau

Liberty took the ball off the opening jump and hit for the opening basket for the Leopard’s first lead.

Then after some two-point tradeoffs, Liberty-Eylau took a short drive down for a three-pointer to give the Leopards an 11 to 10 advantage about halfway through the first period. That was their second and final lead in the game.

A unified team effort, with Jamari Jackson, Corday Cooper, Jagger Moore, Treshawn Savage and Carlton Hicks all scoring in the first period, gave the Wildcats a 21-15 lead at the end of the first period.

Hicks got his two points with a buzzer beater to end the initial period.

Scoring slowed down in the second as only 12 points were scored with Paris hitting for eight and Liberty-Eylau for four. The score stood at 29-19 at the half.

The second two frames saw the Wildcats continue to dominate the Leopards even as the Liberty-Eylau team was only behind by seven points at the end of the third, 42-35.

But fourth-quarter runs that included a coast-to-coast by Hicks and a couple of slams by Jackson had the game going the Wildcats' way.

“I was happy with our play,” coach Billy Mack Steed said. “The kids played with a lot of intensity.”

Jackson and Moore scored 12 points each and Cooper ended with 10 points including six off three-point shots.

The loss was only the third on the season for the Leopards who stand at 13-3 and 1-2 in district play.

The Wildcats improved to 11-7 on the season and 1-1 in district play.

The Wildcats will next travel to Pittsburg to face the 6-18, 0-2 Pirates in a district matchup.