Published: December 22, 2008 11:11 pm �� �� �� ��

OK in OT

Cats finally earn win in extra time

Dalton High’s boys basketball team has already lost its share of close games this season.

With the Catamounts about to lose another one Monday, 6-foot-7-inch senior Caz Cole took over and made sure they didn’t.

Dalton trailed by five points with just less than three minutes left in regulation against Cass, but Cole scored nine of Dalton’s next 11 points — including a game-tying layup with 11 seconds left to send the game to overtime — and the Cats won 59-56 Tuesday in the Holiday Classic at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center.

In other Holiday Classic games, the Lady Cats defeated Cass, 56-28, Murray County’s boys beat Sequatchie County, Tenn., 77-47, and Sequatchie County’s girls beat Dade County 34-27.

For the Cats (3-5), it was the third overtime game in less than two weeks. On Dec. 12, the Cats lost in OT at Osborne, 61-59, and came up short to Murray County the next day with a 70-67 OT loss.

Cole, who finished with 23 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks against Cass, hopes the win will help turn the Cats’ season around.

“I’m so sick of losing,” Cole said. “It’s my senior year and I don’t want to go out like this. I don’t want to leave Dalton like this and think my last year here was one of the worst years Dalton’s ever had. I want me and (fellow seniors Ethan Bennett, Mauro Guzman and David White) to leave with pride and I want us to leave with a winning record. A good winning record.”

Trailing by one at halftime, the Cats missed 3 of 10 free throws while the Colonels (5-3) went on a 20-11 run to take a 10-point lead into the fourth period.

But in that period, Dalton coach Mike Duffie tweaked his lineup in an attempt to get Cole more involved in the offense.

“We made a shift,” Duffie said. “For most of the game, we had Caz in the middle of the court (when Cass full-court pressed). We moved Kelly Phillips to the middle and put Caz in the back of the press and on zone offense where he could do some finishing, where he was more comfortable.

“I had to sacrifice size by taking (6-7 Watts Dantzler) out, but today we were more effective having Caz down low.”

Duffie’s plan worked as Dalton outscored Cass 18-8 in the fourth, with a big momentum shift occurring with 2:28 left when Cole blocked a Colonels shot, ran down the court and converted White’s pass to a two-handed dunk to bring the crowd to its feet and cut Cass’ lead to 48-45.

Thirty seconds into overtime, Tevin Collins — who provided a late spark off the bench with five points and three steals — drilled a 3-pointer to give Dalton the lead. The Cats never trailed again, and Collins beat the Colonels’ full-court press by throwing a cross-court inbound pass to Shaquon Moore for an uncontested layup to put Dalton ahead 59-56 with 37 seconds remaining.

Moore finished with 10 points, three assists and three rebounds and Dantzler nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

The Cats went 2-1 at the Holiday Classic, beating Sequatchie County, 69-53, on Friday and losing to Tucker, 75-74, on Saturday.

Duffie hopes the win reverses Dalton’s fortunes.

“I hope it’s a real important win,” Duffie said. “But only time will tell.”

The Colonels were led by Kwamaine Winters’ 15 points.

The Lady Catamounts continued their hot streak by beating Cass to finish 3-0 in the event.

With his team already up by 12 at halftime, Dalton coach Jeff McKinney wanted more from his players.

“I told them at halftime that we weren’t ready to play,” he said. “We were doing some things right, but we weren’t playing hard enough.

“In the third quarter, we came out and got some easy baskets off their press. We were able to take advantage of (Cass) being mentally defeated and we were able to build a quick lead. I was pleased with their effort in the second half.”

The Lady Cats (6-3) went on a 19-6 run in the third and the reserves took over in the fourth, outscoring the Lady Colonels starters 11-8.

Markisha Washington led Dalton with 11 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.

“It was exciting to win three in a row for the first time (this season),” Washington said. “I think we’ve improved a lot (during the Holiday Classic). We’re getting better with our communication and we’re having fun with it.”

Amanda Rector pitched in 10 points, four assists and two steals for Dalton, Emily Broadrick had nine points, five assists and six rebounds and April Besley finished with four points, four steals and six rebounds.

The Lady Colonels (5-4) were led by Jasmine Wilson and Miecha Baker’s six points.

In the Murray County-Sequatchie County game, the Indians (8-1) steadily built on a 19-7 first quarter lead — which included a 10-0 run to open the game — and came away with one of their biggest wins of the season.

The Sanfords — Garrick and Chase — were up to their long-distance shooting ways, combining to go 7-for-10 from 3-point range. Garrick Sanford led all scorers with 21 points on 5-for-7 3-point shooting, Chase Sanford finished with 15 points and Tanner Long chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.

Indians coach Greg Linder said the team’s fast start was by design.

“We wanted to set the tone early,” he said. “We played strong defense and executed well on offense, especially in the first. We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

In the Sequatchie County girls’ win against Dade County, Rachel Lockhart scored 17 points to lead Sequatchie County, while Lauren Grisham had 12 points and Holly Gross 11 for Dade County.

Varsity wrestling

� Dalton went 4-1 during the first day of the Smoky Mountain Duals in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and will compete today in a championship pool that also includes Georgia’s LaFayette and Jefferson.

The Cats (14-3) finished second to Jefferson during pool competition on Monday to advance to the championship pool, which will also feature a round-robin format.

Dalton beat Hall, Tenn., 69-12, Sevier County, Tenn., 72-6, Greenback, Tenn., 42-41, and Madison, N.C., 84-0. The Cats’ loss was to Jefferson, 71-6.

Jordan White (112 pounds) and Henry Torres (125) each went 5-0 for the Cats, while Eduardo Gutierrez (103), Juan Holguin (145), Taylor Duckworth (160), Carlos Prieto (171) and Henson Toland (189) were all 4-1.

JV basketball

� Northwest Whitfield girls 68, North Springs 22: Summer Jackson scored a game-high 17 points and was one of four players in double figures for the Lady Bruins (4-0).

Tori Clemmons added 16 points, Carly Fetzer had 11 and Sydney Roberts chipped in 13 points, seven assists and six steals.

Eight players scored in Monday’s victory, which followed up a 59-18 defeat of Alcovy on Saturday. In that game, Clemmons had 22 points, while Roberts added six steals and four assists and Fetzer grabbed six rebounds.

9th basketball

� Murray County 31, South Paulding 26: Alex Hedges scored seven points and Kaitlyn Lowery and Kellie Newport each added six for the Lady Indians (2-1) during their victory at the North Paulding Christmas tournament. Murray County plays North Paulding today in the tourney.

9th wrestling

� Northwest won the freshman tournament in Cleveland, Tenn., for the third consecutive year as 14 Bruins earned medals.

The Bruins finished with 89.5 points, while Cleveland was second with 59, Ooltewah third with 49 and Bradley Central fourth 46 in the 12-team field.

James Carter (103-pound weight class), Brett Burnett (140), Hunter Martin (160) and Oscar Marchan (285) each finished first in their respective classes, while Jake Cruse (135), Brian Whitmire (145), Kerry McElroy (189) and Adam Selby (215) took second.

Finishing third were Alex Holt (125), Dustin Pendergrass (135), Dillon Jones (140) and Jared Haws (145). Brandon Davenport (130) and Grant Fuller (152) were fourth.

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