Blackcats fall to tough foes, Lady Blackcats split pair of games

By Mike Buhler

The Goreville Blackcats boys basketball team ran into a pair of tough opponents last week, falling 58-47 at Christopher last Friday and 65-56 at home to Massac County the next day.

“It was tough with two losses, but we played and shot much better the Massac game,” Goreville coach Todd Tripp said. “We just have to keep our heads up and regroup. My kids played hard, but just didn’t shoot the ball well vs. Christopher. … Both teams are good teams and neither have a loss at this point.”

Against Massac County, the Patriots jumped out to a 20-9 lead over Goreville after the opening period, but the Blackcats bounced back to slash the lead to 33-28 by the intermission. Massac led 47-43 entering the fourth quarter.

Carter Bishop and Kanon Webb both paced Goreville with 18 points apiece, while Chase Quigley and Ian Sopczak each had six, Dylan Compton and Rhet Schuetz each had three and Briley Dunn finished with two.

At Christopher, the Blackcats led 15-11 after the opening period, but trailed 23-20 by halftime and 38-29 by the start of the fourth quarter as they struggled from the field shooting.

Quigley led Goreville with 17 points, while Dunn and Webb each had 10, Sopczak added four and the trio of Bishop, Compton and Schuetz with two apiece.

The Blackcats’ game against Chester earlier this week has been postponed until March 8. Weather permitting, Goreville is slated to head to Sesser-Valier on Friday before coming home to host Zeigler-Royalton on Saturday and Vienna on Tuesday.

The Goreville Lady Blackcats had a bit of a mixed week on the court last week, falling 67-35 at Mt. Vernon last Friday, but bouncing back with a 46-43 overtime win over Chester the next day.

Abby Compton had a big game against Chester, scoring 15 points and adding 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Abby King added 10 points. Jasilyn Westerfield had nine points and eight rebounds, Miley Kwiatkowski chipped in eight points and Katie Benard added seven rebounds.

“Really good effort from Abby Compton against Chester,” Goreville coach Mike Helton said.

At Mt. Vernon, the host Lady Rams jumped out to a 20-7 lead and never looked back, stretching their lead to 36-17 by halftime and 54-26 entering the fourth quarter.

“Mt. Vernon was very solid and turnovers plagued us most of the night,” Helton said.