GIRLS

Gracie Montgomery and Brooke Daily helped the Tharptown Wildcats get 2020 off to a good start with a 57-16 blowout win over Brilliant.

Montgomery led Tharptown with 21 points and five assists and went eight for 17 from the field. Daily scored 14 points and pulled down 15 rebounds while going six for 10 from the field.

“It was good to get the second half of the season off to a good start,” said Tharptown Coach Tanna Benford. “We played some really good teams during the Christmas break and had some rough games. Hopefully that will help us in January.”

Tharptown jumped out to 13-2 first quarter lead, with Montgomery scoring 10 of the 13 points. The Wildcats broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Tigers 19-5 and taking a 32-7 halftime lead.

The Wildcats led 50-11 at the end of the third quarter as they cruised to an easy win.

Shaylee Wieting added 11 points for the Wildcats. Aly Vandiver pitched in seven points, and Adrianna Borden had four points.

BOYS

The Tharptown Wildcats posted their best shooting night of the season to start off the new year in a 77-47 blowout win over the Brilliant Tigers.

The Wildcats went 35-for-52 from the field, making 67 percent of their shots and scoring a season-high 77 points.

“We didn’t play great defense and made some unforced turnovers, but it was the best we’ve shot all year,” said Tharptown Coach Shannon Benford. “It was a big turnaround from the last time we played them at their place.”

The Wildcats lost by eight points at Brilliant earlier in the season.

“That was a 38-point turnaround,” said Benford. “We have two tough games coming up, so hopefully this will give us the confidence we need as we hit the stretch run.”

Tharptown led Brilliant 18-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats clamped down in the second quarter, outscoring Brilliant 19-5 and taking a 37-19 halftime lead. Tharptown extended that lead to 62-38 by the end of the third quarter.

Winston Nolen led the Wildcats with 20 points. He was followed by Edward Lopez with 15 points, Edwin Garcia with 13 points, Luis Valdez with 12 points, Colton Simmons with nine points, Ruben Alfaro with six points and Nathan Lucas with two points.

THS TEAMS SPLIT WITH SHEFFIELD, COLBERT COUNTY

The Lady Wildcats picked up another area win with a 47-10 route of Sheffield Friday night.

Tharptown held the Lady Bulldogs to two points in the first half, leading 27-2 at the break.

Daily led the Wildcats with 12 points and seven rebounds. Wieting added nine points. Montgomery finished the game with eight points and five assists. Borden had eight points, Kaitlyn Simmons five points, Kyndall Morgan three points and Vandiver two points.

The Wildcat girls also picked up a win over Colbert County 32-36.

The Tharptown boys team had a less successful go with losses of 73-43 to Sheffield and 62-58 to Colbert County.

Luis Valdez hit five three-pointers on his way to a career-high of 17 points in a losing effort against the Sheffield Bulldogs.

Tharptown trailed Sheffield by three points with 45 seconds to go in the first half, but the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to close out the half.

Winston Nolen added 10 points for Tharptown.