Both Pike County basketball teams could not overcome slow starts in losses to region rival Montgomery Catholic Tuesday night.

 

Girls: Pike County 22, Montgomery Catholic 67

A slow start and a cold fourth quarter doomed the Pike County Lady Bulldogs to a 22-67 loss to the visiting Montgomery Catholic Lady Knights.

The Lady Bulldogs fell behind early and could never find a rhythm offensively. Pike County trailed 17-6 after the first quarter.

Things improved for the Lady Dawgs in the second quarter. Two quick buckets by Sh’ana Lee and a bank shot by Precious Vaznaian cut in to the Lady Knights’ lead, but a late run by Catholic saw the Lady Knights take a 29-12 lead in to the break.

It was a second half to forget for the Lady Bulldogs. Catholic scored the first 12 points of the third quarter. Vaznaian added six points in the quarter, but the Lady Dawgs went in to the fourth trailing 20-49.

Pike County only scored two points in the final quarter. Catholic closed the game on an 18-0 run for a final of 22-67.

Pike County head coach Tayamoko Iverson said he was proud of the way his team gutted out the game. “We’re still making progress as a team,” Iverson said. “We only dressed six players tonight. The girls fought the whole game, and I’m proud of them for that.”

 

Boys: Pike County 45, Montgomery Catholic 49

Kamare Jackson did the best he could, but, despite his 18 points, the Bulldogs fell at home to Montgomery Catholic.

Pike County had an anemic first quarter. Deshon Cowling scored the Bulldogs’ only two points in the game’s opening frame.

The scoring picked up a little for the Bulldogs in the second quarter with Jackson scoring seven of his 18 in the period. However, Catholic led 16-10 heading in to halftime.

Both offenses picked up in the second half. Jackson added another seven points in the quarter, but, every time the Bulldogs made a basket, Catholic responded with a basket of their own.

Trailing by four entering the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs would pull within one of Catholic, but the Knights would hit just enough free throws down the stretch to salt the game away.

Down by seven with under 30 seconds left, Cowling hit a layup to bring Pike County within five. Ryshaun Hall then stole the ball and hit a three to close the gap to two, but Catholic hit two free throws with a second remaining in the game to seal the win.