Misery loves company
All four Kilgore High School teams lose district games; back in action Friday
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

Photo by Lester Murray NOT A GREAT NIGHT - Kilgore's Garrett Wood (6) controls the ball late in the game Tuesday against Lindale. The Bulldogs held off Lindale for much of the contest, clinging to a 1-0 lead, but allowed two goals late, and lost, 2-1. Unfortunately, that was just the tip of the iceberg for the KHS teams on Tuesday: the girls soccer team lost at Lindale, and both Kilgore basketball teams lost to Whitehouse. All four are back in action on Friday, though.

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen - a bad night all the way around for Kilgore High School athletics.

All four teams in action on Tuesday night - boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls basketball - tripped up, with Whitehouse sweeping the basketball teams and Lindale sweeping the soccer teams. Kilgore's junior varsity soccer teams both won, however.

There is good news, though: it's still very early in the soccer season, and as far as the girls basketball District 12-4A standings are concerned, the Lady Bulldogs are still alone in second place (the top three teams in each district make the playoffs).

All four teams will be back in competition again on Friday. The KHS Lady Bulldogs basketball team visits district-leading Nacogdoches (who had been unbeaten, but lost on Tuesday), and the basketball boys host Nac. Kilgore's girls soccer program hosts Marshall, and the boys program will visit the Mavericks.

• Lindale 2, Kilgore 1 (boys soccer): The Bulldogs, playing here at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium, played very well for much of the contest, but gave up two late goals, close together in the second half, and suddenly trailed 2-1. It was a deficit from which the Bulldogs couldn't come back.

Kilgore's only goal came less than four minutes into the game off the foot of Fidel Cedillo with 36:48 left in the first half. The Bulldogs led the remainder of the half, and deep into the second half before Lindale's two quick goals.

Kilgore is 4-3 overall this season, and 1-2 in District 17-4A play. Coach Joey Pippen's JV boys beat Lindale, 7-0.

The Bulldogs visit Marshall on Friday, a 5:30 p.m. JV start, with varsity to follow, at Maverick Stadium.

• Lindale 7, Kilgore 0 (girls soccer): Not much offense to speak of for coach Amanda Walzel's Lady Bulldogs, who are also 1-2 in district play. Lindale is supposed to be one of the better teams in 17-4A, and lived up to that by shutting Kilgore out.

Coach Alice Crocker's JV Lady 'Dogs won, however, taking home a 2-0 win. Scoring for the KHS JV were Jessica Dukes and Kathryn McIntyre.

• Whitehouse 40, Kilgore 25 (girls basketball): Coach Davia Garrett's Lady Bulldogs, as mentioned, are still in second place in the district, but this road loss at Whitehouse allowed the Lady Wildcats (who have four district losses) to remain in shouting distance of Nac and Kilgore. Whitehouse and Hallsville are competing for that third and final playoff spot in the district. KHS is two games in front of both.

The loss drops Kilgore to 12- 8 overall, but the Lady 'Dogs have an impressive 8-2 record in district play.

For KHS, Ashia Kelly had 13 points, but got into foul trouble early, as did fellow post player Raven Wiley. Troylisha Orange and Wiley each had four. Shae Morgan and Tai'Shea Reese each had two.

"Sometimes you need a loss to get grounded and regroup," Garrett said. "We didn't play well. We never could get into our game. ...Our shots just didn't fall. We got plenty of open looks. We shot very, very poorly."

Should Kilgore be able to grab a win at Nacogdoches, the Lady Bulldogs would be tied for first in the district standings.

• Whitehouse 68, Kilgore 31 (boys basketball): The latest high school state basketball rankings came out early this week, and Whitehouse was once again the No. 3 team in Class 4A.

They looked very much like it on Tuesday night. The Wildcats are 21-1 overall this season. They're big, fast, aggressive, and play smart - they don't commit many turnovers.

They do create them, however. In addition to any throwaways the Bulldogs committed, the Wildcats had 15 steals, and won yet again in District 12- 4A, where they sit comfortably atop the standings at 8-0.

Whitehouse outscored Kilgore 18-4 in the first quarter, and held the Bulldogs to 17 firsthalf points.

Kilgore drops to 6-16 overall, 2-6 with the loss. The Bulldogs are home again on Friday, hosting Nacogdoches.

For KHS against Whitehouse, Drake Bickham scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and blocked a shot. Michael Hardeman had eight points, a rebound and an assist. Corwin Rowlett had seven points and a rebound. J.J. Adams and Victor Raven each scored two points - Raven had a steal, and Adams had two rebounds and two steals. Shaun Edwards had a point on a free throw. Cody Murphy didn't score, but had three assists, three steals and two rebounds.

For Whitehouse, three players hit double figures: Cade Clark led with 16 points. Kyle Ford had 11, and Cody Malloy had 10. Mitch Marquis had nine.