October 8, 2024

KHS SPLITS WITH CARTHAGE | Lady ‘Dogs lose, ‘Dogs win

Kilgore girls basketball coach Marissa Coop (center, kneeling) talks to her team during a time-out against Carthage. The girls dropped the contest to Carthage, 42-17, but Kilgore's boys defeated Carthage, 60-40, in the nightcap. The Hi-Steppers got a great ovation after a performance during the boys' halftime. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS - ETBLITZ.COM)
Kilgore girls basketball coach Marissa Coop (center, kneeling) talks to her team during a time-out against Carthage. The girls dropped the contest to Carthage, 42-17, but Kilgore’s boys defeated Carthage, 60-40, in the nightcap. The Hi-Steppers got a great ovation after a performance during the boys’ halftime. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – ETBLITZ.COM)

Kilgore hosted Carthage in a pair of District 17-4A basketball games Friday night, and came to a split decision.

Carthage won the girls contest, 42-17, and Kilgore won the boys, 60-40, with the Hi-Steppers performing at halftime of the boys game.

The Lady Bulldogs have been eliminated from playoff contention, unfortunately for their fans, and will conclude their season on Tuesday night at Center, starting with subvarsity games at 4:30 p.m.

Kilgore did honor the senior Lady ‘Dogs on Friday before the loss to Carthage: seniors Hallie Smires, Maggie Quine, and Auniyeuh Matlock were all honored, in addition to “honorary” senior manager Hania Chmielewska (see our story here: SENIOR NIGHT! | Kilgore honors Lady ‘Dogs (etblitz.com).

The Bulldogs are 6-2 in district play, and their regular season continues on through next week and into the next. They’ll play at Center on Tuesday, following the girls game, and then will play at Chapel Hill on Friday, Feb. 9, then at home in the regular season finale on Tuesday, Feb. 13 – that’ll serve as the boys senior night.

Carthage 42, Kilgore 17 (girls): Kilgore scored the first basket – senior Hallie Smires hitting a three-pointer at 7:26 in the first quarter – and played close to Carthage the entire first half, trailing 20-12 at halftime.

Carthage’s Lady Dawgs, though, went on a 9-0 run that lasted the entire third quarter, then held KHS to just five points in the fourth quarter.

Smires led Kilgore’s scorers with six points, and also had five rebounds and two steals. Maggie Quine had four points and a rebound. Phenix Rivers had three points and two rebounds. Molly Quine and Trinzai Frierson each had two points – Molly had a rebound and two steals, and Frierson, three rebounds. Matlock didn’t score, but had five rebounds and three steals, and Kassidy Oliver had five rebounds and a steal.

Kaylen Igobokwe led Carthage with 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Kilgore 60, Carthage 40 (boys): Kilgore’s boys jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but in spite of Carthage having only six players, they were able to remain in the game, for the most part: Kilgore’s largest lead was the final score.

Eric Armstrong scored six of Kilgore’s first eight points and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Jayden Sanders had 13 points – four of them on dunks – and five steals, four rebounds and two assists.

Braydon Nelson had a double-double: 12 points, 10 rebounds and an assist. Dre Sanders and Cameron Christian each had six points; Christian added four rebounds and an assist, and Sanders a rebound.

And Mikel Dennis and Javon Towns each had four points; Dennis had seven rebounds and two assists, and Towns had three rebounds and a steal.

For Carthage, Colt Vickery and Landon Hodges each had 10 points, and Cale Preston had nine. Preston also had four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

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