Cats win against Samson on Senior Night

Enterprise sent its senior Wildcats out with a 62-51 win Feb. 2 on Senior Night.

"The thing about basketball is you’re as good as your last game," EHS boys basketball coach Alonzo Barkley said. "We played well tonight, and we had a good closing to the season. We’ve had a lot of adversity this season, but I think it’s just how you finish."

EHS scored the first seven points of the game, which Barkley said gave the Wildcats some early confidence.

"We’ve got a team of shooters," he said. "Shooting is all about confidence. When they see the ball going in the hoop early, whether it’s from them or a teammate, it just makes them feel better. It makes them believe they can do it. It inspires other players to do their thing."

Samson later went on a 11-0 run to grab an 11-7 lead.

Dallas Howell drained a 3 to stop the run, but the Tigers scored the next eight points.

Another 3-pointer from Howell was the final bucket of the first quarter, and left the Cats with a 19-13 deficit.

The second quarter started with an 8-1 Enterprise run, which ended soon after the Wildcats took a 21-20 lead when Howell scored, was fouled and hit a free throw with 2:45 left in the first half.

The Tigers went on an 8-0 run later in the quarter to grab a 29-23 advantage, but EHS ended the half with four consecutive points to cut its deficit to 29-27 at the break.

"Keep the game simple," Barkley said he told his players at the half. "They were going to pack it in and dare us to shoot. We had to just be patient, move the ball to the open guy and shoot. (EHS assistant) Coach Evan Harvin made some adjustments, too, that really made a big difference."

The Wildcats found success from behind the arc early in the third quarter.

Ja'Juan Hayes drained back-to-back 3s, which were followed by another long-range shot from Chris Dunford to give EHS a 36-29 advantage.

Barkley's halftime prediction was correct, and the Cats were able to take advantage of Samson's defense from afar.

"They played a packed-in, 2-3 zone," he said. "They just dared us to shoot all game. I think the biggest enemy was us. We drew a lot of fouls. We had a lot of miscues in transition defense I stayed on them about, and then defensive rebounding. They did a better job than us overall tonight with that, but we just found a way to win despite those things."

Samson cut the Cats' lead to four with 4:11 in the third quarter, and finished the frame on a 9-0 run to lead 41-38 when the fourth quarter began.

EHS tied the game 44-44 and then took a 47-46 lead before it found more success from behind the 3-point line at a crucial time.

E. J. Scott buried back-to-back-to-back 3s, and the Cats took a 55-46 lead.

"I think the biggest story of the game was somewhere in the fourth when I changed the lineup and put E.J. Scott in the game," Barkley said. "He hit three 3s back to back to back. That extended the lead."

Samson hit a free throw with 1:52 left to stop the run, but was forced to foul the rest of the way.

C. J. Felder knocked down 10 of his 11 shots from the free-throw line down the stretch, and Enterprise won its final game of the regular season.

"What kept the lead was C.J. Felder going 10-of-11 from the line when you’re in a one-and-one situation," Barkley said. "That is huge when you’re trying to close a game out."

Felder led the Wildcats with 13 points. Hayes and Howell each had 11. Scott had nine, and Trae Cooper added eight. Dunford scored three. Mason Jordan and Sam Purvis each had two.

The end of a regular season which concluded on a high note has been about one thing for Barkley and the Wildcats.

"Growth," he said. "They take the coaching. They deal with the adversity. The game goes back and forth and they just keep chopping. It’s just about growth. It’s good as a coach to see players progressing through, getting better and showing improvement. We didn’t have a complete game. I thought several of our guys could have done a better job, but it’s all about surviving and conquering at this point in the season."

Enterprise will play Robert E. Lee in the first round of the Class 7A, Area 3 tournament at 5 p.m. Feb. 7 at Lee High School in Montgomery, and will enter the game with some momentum.

"Other than Tuesday night (against Eufaula), we’ve been playing some pretty good basketball," Barkley said. "I’m pleased with how we’re moving forward."

Lady Cats lose

The Enterprise girls basketball team lost 62-45 to Samson Feb. 2 in its final home game of the season, and the Lady Tigers left an impression on EHS girls basketball coach Jeffrey Keller.

"I certainly think their two guards (LaTascya and LaTora Duff) are really nice players," he said. "They did some nice stuff off of the dribble, and they certainly made shots from NBA range. You just have to give them a lot of credit for just making plays. I believe they scored 48 of their 62 points."

The Lady Cats kept the game close in the first quarter and had a 6-4 lead until Samson tied the game 6-6 with two free throws at the 4:13 mark.

The Lady Tigers took a 10-6 lead, but EHS rallied to tie the game and the score was knotted 10-10 after the first quarter.

Samson started the second on a 15-1 run, which was stopped when Keke Washington hit a shot at the 2:06 mark.

Valencia Spann scored to pull the Lady Cats to a 25-15 deficit, but SHS scored five consecutive points to end the first half with a 30-15 lead.

The Lady Cats started the second half on a 10-2 run, which included a 3-pointer from Gwen Mitchell and was ended when Samson drained a shot from behind the arc for a 35-25 lead.

EHS continued to chip away at Samson's advantage. The Lady Cats were aggressive on the glass early in the third frame, which pleased Keller.

"There’s things we did well, and there’s things, obviously, we could have done a better job of," he said. "When you’re aggressive like that you give yourself more opportunities. We certainly did that. I also felt like on the defensive end…the intensity level picked up in that third quarter. That drove us back to where we were within a possession or two of tying the game."

Enterprise ended the third quarter on a 9-3 run, including a layup at the buzzer when Mitchell knifed through the lane, and trailed 40-36 when the fourth frame started.

"I just felt like we had a good combination of going inside and a little outside," Keller said. "Defensive intensity picked up, but then in the fourth quarter their guards made plays. We couldn’t sustain what we did offensively in the third quarter. We couldn’t sustain it in the fourth."

The Lady Tigers took control in the final quarter, which started with a 19-2 Samson run and put SHS up by a 59-38 margin.

Mitchell stopped the streak with a free throw at the 4:08 mark. 

EHS outscored the Lady Tigers 7-3 down the stretch, but couldn't rally.

Mitchell led the Lady Cats with 14 points, and Spann followed with 12.

Keke Washington had eight, and Gaby Hedgpeth had four. Shay Teh and Jeide Amos each had two.

"With Valencia we knew we had a little bit of a size advantage," Keller said. "We thought we could go inside, whether that was feeding the post or driving to the basket. We did that some as well. I thought, really, in the third quarter we had a combination of that. Once you do that it opens up a little bit more on the perimeter. We hit a few shots there as well."

 The Lady Cats will play Jeff Davis Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the area tournament at Lee High School in Montgomery, and Keller said improvement has prepared them for the postseason.

"There’s areas (where) we’ve certainly gotten better," he said. "Teams are aware of that, and they’ve had to throw new stuff at our (players). We start to get better at that, and then something else is thrown in. That’s really where we are. I feel like there’s a lot of things we’ve gotten a handle on. There’s still a thing or two we need to work on to get better at, but — with the youth we have with this team — it’s been great for them to see all of these things and know now exactly how to attack these things. When you go into tournament play, there’s really no surprises."