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Last night, the Bainbridge Lady Cats (8-5, 1-1) and Bearcats (7-6, 1-1) lost their first region game to the Westover Patriots, 47-38 and 57-41. 

The Lady Cats were led by their senior class in scoring No. 14. Ta’Liyah Ausgood had 11, No. 0 Ahleah Jones finished with nine, and No. 4 Kyra Green had eight. 

The Lady Cats’ offensive start was rocky. They went 14 minutes without scoring before pouring  19 points in the second quarter and holding a nine-point advantage at halftime. 

“We had the looks; sometimes you just can’t make a shot. We just didn’t get it done,” Bainbridge Lady Cats coach Kelvin Cochran said. “Even when we got into a grove, we started turning the ball over and over and over again. It’s like ESPN, every hour on the hour, and it came from our seniors who have played a lot of basketball.” 

No. 1 Sydney Donaldson of the Westover Lady Patriots (6-4, 2-0) disrupted the Lady Cats offense with steals and provided easy scoring opportunities, finishing the game with 27 points.  

“Sydney’s their best player by far; she averaged 17 (points per game) as a sophomore, and it’s clear she knows what to do with the basketball,” Cochran said. “She’s a scorer, like I told the girls, that’s who we had to focus on stopping.” 

Due to those turnovers, the Lady Cats outscored 21-5 in the third quarter and played catch-up the rest of the game. 

“I have to do a better job of keep coaching them up; our kids have to focus better, too,” Cochran said. “And focus on the details of the game to help us win games.” 

The Bearcats also got out to a shaky first eight minutes that put them in a hole for the remainder of the game, trailing 18-5 and 32-16 at the break to the Westover Patriots (8-3, 2-0). BHS was led in scoring by junior forward No. 21 Tyrese Jones, with 14 points. Junior guard No. 2 Trent Lee had nine total points. Jones and Lee shot the ball well from the free-throw line, combining to shoot 8-for-11.  

“You got out there, fought, and tip your hat to the other team. Get back in the lab and get going,” Cochran said. “You don’t like that feeling, so pay more attention to the game plan. High school basketball is not pick-up; you cannot choose not to play defense, and you must always have five guys locked in on the court.

“Hats off to Westover; they shot the ball very well, and they didn’t give us many good looks,” Cochran said. “We have to do a better job of matching their intensity. We had such a top-heavy senior class the past couple of years, and this is the first time in the regular season a lot of our rotation guys are getting a taste of how to match other teams’ intensity, especially early in games against that type of competition.” 

After halftime, the Bearcats came out energized, outscoring the Patriots 18-14 and rising to match that intensity. They cut the lead to ten in the third quarter, but the Patriots managed to control the game.   

“We have to get a little back at a time, played hard, smart, and took good shots,” Cochran said. “We took a quick shot when we got it down to ten and let them beat us in transition. Anytime you get in a hole, it will take a lot to dig out of, especially against a good team.”

The Bainbridge Lady Cats and Bearcats will return on Friday and Saturday. They travel to play a region matchup against Peach County and a regular-season rematch against the Colquitt County Packers. The ladies’ game will tip off at 6 p.m., and the boys’ games at 7:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.