Shermandre Jackson slices between a pair of Enterprise defenders in Tuesday night varsity boys basketball action. Jackson finished with nine points in the 75-50 loss to the Wildcats.

Turnovers, poor shooting cost Bulldogs

By STEVE BUTTERWORTH

Enterprise Ledger

ENTERPRISE – Christmas may still be a couple of weeks away, but the Pike County Bulldogs were in quite the giving mood here Tuesday night, bringing plenty of smiles to Enterprise players, coaches and fans.

Pike County (1-3) committed 24 turnovers, was 13-of-30 from the charity stripe and was just 14-of-48 overall shooting from the floor, the Bulldogs falling behind early and never recovering in a 75-50 setback to the homestanding Wildcats.

Marquez Foster and Tyrone Boyd led the Bulldogs with 13 points a piece while Shermandre Jackson added nine points in a losing effort.

Pike County never quite kicked it in gear to open the contest, 11 first-quarter turnovers leading to 12 Enterprise points as the Wildcats raced out to a 19-9 lead. The Bulldogs managed just two first-quarter field goals, the first of which didn’t come for over five minutes to start the game.

Missed shots and turnovers continued to hound the Bulldogs, Enterprise parlaying those into a 13-3 run to open the second period, increasing their lead to as much as 32-12 in the first three minutes of the quarter. Pike County went without a field goal over the final four minutes of the half, hitting just six free throws and trailed 44-21 at the break. The Wildcats increased their lead to as much as 27 (58-31) through the first four minutes of the third quarter when Pike County started to find the range. Foster and Jackson keyed a 13-4 run to close out the third, pulling as close as 62-47 just two minutes into the fourth quarter.

However the run quickly ended under a barrage of turnovers and transition points, Enterprise closing out the game on a 13-3 run to secure the high margin of victory.

In a similarly eerie fashion, it was also turnovers and missed shots which killed the Pike County Lady Bulldogs, who dropped their second meeting this year with the Enterprise ladies, 70-55.

Pike County was led by Wennica Foster with 19 points while Stephanie Caffie tallied 15 in a losing effort.

Behind a horrid shooting night and numerous miscues, Pike County found themselves on the low end of the scoreboard early and often. Enterprise raced out to a 19-6 lead after one quarter of play, increasing their margin to 35-19 at the half.

Enterprise seemed to have the game well in hand heading into the final stanza, up 58-32, but the Lady Bulldogs rallied. Taking advantage of numerous Lady Wildcat turnovers, Pike County slowly chipped away at the deficit, but couldn’t get it under double digits as time wound down.

Lady ‘Cat Jessica Robinson killed the rally with six straight points on putbacks in the closing minute, Pike County never getting any closer than their final margin. Robinson led EHS (3-4) with 24 points, 16 coming in the second half.

Pike County fell behind 9-1 in the first three minutes of the game but roared back, outscoring Enterprise 22-5 in the first half, then staved off a late charge and last-second shot which would have forced overtime, posting the narrow, 42-40 win.

Joe Copes led the Bulldogs with 12 points. Codie Terry added nine and Jermaine Johnson tallied eight. Pike County struggled at the free-throw line, hitting just 7-of-19 overall and 2-of-10 in the fourth quarter.