Catawba Ridge boys beat Lancaster in Top-10 battle; Copperheads’ girls complete sweep
Catawba Ridge got off to fast starts — both the girls and boys — Tuesday night against Lancaster, and it showed in the final scores.
The girls jumped out to a 19-6 first-quarter lead and never looked back.
In the boys game, No. 4 Catawba Ridge scored early and often to beat No. 6 Lancaster, 78-47.
Girls: Catawba Ridge 60, Lancaster 35
Their fast start was impressive, but it was the Copperheads’ domination in the fourth quarter that put the game away, 60-35.
Head coach Sheridan Pressley said it’s important to close out games, regardless of the score.
“Since I’ve gotten here, we’ve been preaching finish, finish, finish,” Pressley said. “No matter what the score is, no matter what we do until that whistle blows, we need to finish. Games like tonight, we were able to come out in the fourth quarter and just keep pounding and were able to finish the game.”
Catawba Ridge senior Morgan Davis led all scorers with 24 points, while Lancaster guard Angel Cousar led the Bruins with 16 points.
It was a solid win for Catawba Ridge (4-14, 2-1), which secured its second-consecutive victory after winning only two of its first 14 games.
Pressley said her team executed the game plan well.
“We’ve just been resilient,” Pressley said. “We had some adversity early on, and we’ve kept pushing and getting better and getting better. Now we’re sitting here, 2-1 in the region and starting to grow and see things come together like you’d hope to see in January.”
The second and third quarters were much closer than the first, with Lancaster outscoring Catawba Ridge by 1 in that stretch to cut the deficit to 10 midway through the third quarter.
But the Copperheads came out hot in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bruins 20-7 to finish off Lancaster.
It feels like a step back for a Lancaster (1-12, 1-2) team that had just won its first game of the season in its previous contest against Northwestern.
Head coach Ronnie Robinson said that he wanted to see more fight from his team, and that was what ultimately led to the result.
“We didn’t play as hard as we needed to,” Robinson said. “They had more energy and more effort than we had. We just got to match. We didn’t match their energy. We just got to do the little things to keep ourselves in the game and not let the lead get out on us. We cut it to 10, we had our chances, but we just didn’t capitalize when we needed to.”
There’s still seven more region games for the Bruins.
Robinson knows that. He’s confident that his team can turn things around during region play, but it all comes down to its mindset going forward.
“(I want us) coming out with more energy, effort, just more urgency in the game,” Robinson said. “Understanding that in region play, every game is important. Every game is going to be different. We got to get out here and do the little things. Just improving on the little things that we need to do, better rebounding and transition defense. Little things we need to just try and get better at and prepare for the next one.”
Catawba Ridge will next play Indian Land at home, while Lancaster will go on the road to play York.
Both games will tip off at 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 19.
Boys: No. 4 Catawba Ridge 78, No. 6 Lancaster 47
Catawba Ridge used a dominant second-half performance to put away Lancaster with a 78-47 victory Tuesday night.
Sophomore Lance Barnes led all scorers with 31 points for the Copperheads, while junior Jordan Watford led Lancaster with 15 points.
Catawba Ridge (16-2, 3-0) got out early, leading Lancaster 13-2 midway through the first quarter, but the Bruins found its footing and cut its deficit to 29-23 heading into halftime.
However, Catawba Ridge found its rhythm in the second half, outscoring Lancaster 49-24 in the final two quarters to pull away.
“Our game plan was to make them beat us from the perimeter, and we had to rebound,” Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers said. “I thought we did pretty well in both of those. Contesting the arc and the boards really hard tonight. I thought we owned the boards, and I told them if we own the boards, we get a win tonight.”
“And the guys just executed brilliantly throughout the game. The first half, we missed some layups. We missed some free throws, or the lead would’ve been a little higher. In the second half, we made those layups, we made those free throws and made the extra passes. We were executing at a very high level, so I’m really proud of them.”
For Lancaster (12-6, 1-1), it was a tough loss for the defending 4A upper state champions.
Head coach Jerron Cauthen wasn’t happy with the way Tuesday night went for his team but took full responsibility for the loss. But he’s not going to let himself or his players hang their heads.
There’s more region games coming, including another game at Catawba Ridge in February.
“I’m not a quitter,” Cauthen said. “My kids not quitters. My staff not quitters. We didn’t play well tonight. It starts with me. I didn’t prepare my team well, and it showed. It’s all on me. I take the good with the bad. When we’re winning, I was getting the pats on the back. We lose, my fault.”
Catawba Ridge will next play Indian Land at home, while Lancaster will go on the road to play York.
Both games will tip off at 7:45 p.m. on Jan. 19.