The Calhoun City Lady Wildcats improbably run to the state tournament ended Friday night with a 77-61 loss to Amite County.
“We didn’t hit the easy baskets today. I don’t know if we were caught in the moment of being here, but our communication was all off,” Calhoun City Coach Rob Fox said. “The plays we’ve been making offensively and defensively we didn’t make today.”
Amite’s 6’1” center Destiny Williams had a lot to do with those difficult plays for the Lady Wildcats. She scored 32 points and pulled down 23 rebounds.
“She had a major impact on us,” Fox said. “We didn’t have the depth to sub in when we needed it.”
Calhoun City hung close in the first period with a late 7-0 run to pull within five points, but Amite County dominated the second period opening a 45-24 lead at the half.
The Lady Wildcats closed to within 16 to open the second half, but Amite County took over from there opening as large as a 31 point lead at one point.
“Every time we made a run, they stretched it back out with three pointers,” Fox said. “They were a solid team, inside and out. I have to give them credit.”
Sierra Coleman finished as the Lady Wildcats’ top scorer with 21 points. Tyra Tucker added 17, Shaderria Coffey eight and Santana McKissick seven.
After the loss, Coach Fox was still proud of the success of his team advancing to the state tournament for the first time in more than 30 years.
“We’ve been through a lot of turmoil this year,” Fox said. “We lost three starters in January to ACL injuries and our sixth man. Four out of our best six players when we started the year weren’t here today, so that makes it even that much more special because these girls did step up to make it to this point.”