Lady Wildcats dispatch Monroe Area

There were two celebrations for the Apalachee High School Lady Wildcats Friday night.

AHS celebrated the contributions of their seniors as well as their season high point total against visiting Monroe Area. The Lady Wildcats took a 56-43 win in a game riddled with fouls. Both teams were in the double bonus early in the first and second halves and the game took much longer than normal to complete.

Jasmin Bell scored a team high 17 points while Zalandria Hill added nine. Ryan Burke finished with eight while Bronwynn Wade and Syndie Harrelson both scored seven points.

“I thought we played good defense at times,” AHS coach Gary Compton said. “We also did well in transition. The only disappointing thing was we had a big lead and let them climb back in it.”

A 41-40 region loss to Loganville High School three nights earlier was still on Compton’s mind Friday night.

“We hurt ourselves with that loss,” the coach said. “We hope to win out and upset someone in region and get to state. We are hoping to finish strong.”

The Lady Wildcats have lost three region games by a point each this season and Compton noted those wins would have improved the team’s standing dramatically.

AHS entered this week 8-13 overall and 4-10 in 8-AAAAA. The Lady Wildcats complete the regular season Friday against Heritage on the road at 7 p.m.

Seniors for the AHS team this season include Burke and Wade.

Friday’s point total was a season high for the Lady Wildcats. The large number of fouls in the game took a toll on the visiting Lady Canes — literally. Monroe Area had to finish the contest with just four players after several fouled out. Coach Stephanie Hines did not have any additional players to insert into the lineup since her junior varsity players on the bench had already played their allotted amount of time Friday.