Presbyterian Christian made quick work of Lamar Christian as the Bobcats cruised to a 65-28 victory. However, the night’s end result was an illustration of how different each team’s respective season has gone.
For the Lady Bobcats, who improved to 13-3, it’s the second straight year they have gotten off to a strong start, with their only losses being to MHSAA 6A powers Harrison Central and Hancock, as well as Brookhaven Academy. Although PCS opened last year with a 15-0 start, coach Drew Smith believes it has improved greatly on offense, but his team needs to concentrate on duplicating last season’s success on defense.
“We are having to replace some good pieces that we lost with our seniors,” Smith said. “They were really good defensively, but I think we are a better offensive team than we were last year. Our defense has been our main focus because, by the end of last year, that’s what we were so good at. We were holding teams to 35 points a game, and that’s why we made such a run. Right now, our focus is getting back to that and making it a staple of ours. If we can get close to that level, we are going to be tough to beat.”
As for Lamar Christian, who won the MAIS Class 4A State Championship a year ago, it’s been a year of injuries as well as replacing long-time coach George Coll. Taking over for Coll is boys coach Caleb Bennett, who now leads both teams.
“It’s a tough ask (to follow Coll),” Bennett said. “He had great success with great teams. We are in a weird spot because we are in a rebuilding year where we are half young and half old. I’ve got players left off from his great squad and then young girls that I’m trying to adjust to how I run things. It’s an odd season, but we have done well to this point.”
Lamar Christian was down three players on Friday, with another just returning from injury. The lack of depth easily hindered the Lady Lions and played a role in them trailing 19-6 by the end of the first quarter.
“We are going for the record for the most crutches on a basketball team, which is not a good record to have,” Bennett said. “It’s left us with six girls on varsity. It’s tough to compete tonight, but my girls played hard.”
PCS’ leading scorer Addyson Sherer also played a crucial role in breaking the game open early as she scored nine of her 15 points in the first quarter. Along with Sherer, two other players reached double digits as A.K. Woodward scored 12 points and Meyah Doyle put up 10 points.
“I think overall it’s been more balanced in scoring,” Smith said. “This is not the only game we have had where we have had a lot of balance. That’s another difference from last year, which is that we have more people who can score. Addyson is our go-to, and everybody knows that. She’s averaging between 17 and 19 points a game, I haven’t looked at it lately, but she’s tough. She makes everybody else around her better, and that’s what is starting to pay off now. Everybody worries about her, and now you see we have these other kids that can score too. That’s a big strength for ours.”
Lamar Christian coughed up numerous turnovers, which sparked a 15-6 run for PCS between the first and second half and pushed the lead to 44-17 midway through the third quarter. Notably, Lindsey Smith led the Lady Lions with nine points.
“They beat us, but a lot of times through most of the game, we beat ourselves,” Bennett said. “Even when we didn’t turn it over, we would take a quick shot that wasn’t with the flow of the offense, which gave them transition opportunities. It was just a lot of mental errors that led to that score. The game itself would have been much closer, even with the turnovers, if we had settled down and taken the correct shots.”
PCS will now prepare to host its Christmas Bash tournament, which will begin Tuesday, Dec. 20, while Lamar Christian will face Jackson Academy on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
