Going into this season for the Lady Cat basketball team one thing was apparent. If this season was going to be successful, the veteran juniors were going to have to carry the load as the younger players adapted to varsity basketball and came up to speed.

Through seven games, no player has stepped into this role more than Nadia Marshall. She has scored at least 20 points each of the team’s last five games including 35 to lead her team to a 80-62 victory against Cairo on Saturday.

“Since the second half of the Moultrie game she’s been cutting loose and playing,” head coach Kelvin Cochran said. “Now she’s got to do it through the rest of the season. I’ve been seeing her turn a corner. She’s taking on another role. I’m asking her to be more of a creator of her own shot.”

Marshall also had 17 rebounds to go along with her career high in points to help her team stretch their winning streak to four games.

“She’s always been a relentless rebounder since she got here,” Cochran said. “That was the first thing to me that stood out, especially on the offensive glass. It’s kind of like the ball has a magnet to her.”

The Lady Cats (5-2) only held a three-point lead at half time, but we able to pull away in the second half as they locked down on defense and found a rhythm on offense.

“We scored 24 points in both the third and fourth quarter and any time you can score 24 points in a quarter that will help out a lot,” Cochran said.

The Lady Cats have been on a roll recently after fighting back into the game against Colquitt. The team trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter before rallying back to take the lead. They were unable to hold on for the win, but the confidence they gained has carried over in the last four games, all wins.

“They just cut loose and played,” Cochran said. “We made a run and that run to come back and take the lead and then give it up, it boosts their confidence. They are playing with such better confidence now.”

The team has also seen improved play out of its younger players who are getting their first taste of varsity basketball.

“We constantly are just getting better,” Cochran said. “We are playing better, executing better and not turning the ball over as much. It is a process, but I see them getting more efficient running our offense.”

The team travelled to Moultrie on Tuesday for a rematch against Colquitt and they will travel to Early County next Tuesday.