Note to Our Readers: The following story was sourced in its entirety from Mr. Glenn Parrish, Communications Director, Booneville Schools. Mr Parrish is a RNN Sports contributor, and we thank him for bringing this story to our readers.
The Booneville Lady Bearcats were 2-4 at one point this season. They went into Friday night’s home game with Cedarville at 9-4.
Included in the seven-game winning streak was two easy wins to earn a second straight Battle on the Border tournament title in Arkoma, then five straight Conference 3A-4 wins.
While Leigh Swint continues to be the biggest force, they have done so with a variety of players taking leadership roles.
Swint is the leader in all offensive categories – scoring 13.5 points per game, grabbing six rebounds, recording 3.2 steals, and handing out 2.9 assists – but during the current winning streak there have been six different players reach double figures in scoring.
Senior Carah Miller, the other Lady Bearcat captain, has hit double digits in all five conference games, averaging 12.4 in league play, brining her season average to nine per night.
Putting in 18, she was especially productive against Paris when the Lady Bearcats returned to the floor for the first time in 18 days.
Miller is also part of an inside force that includes Linley Garrett and Karmen Kent. Between the trio are an average of almost 17 rebounds per night, highlighted by a 12-rebound night by Garrett in Two Rivers. Kent had nine boards against Danville and Miller pulled down nine against both Paris and Danville.
On the offensive end Kent has seen her season scoring average climb to 6.9 after hitting double figures in three conference games and scoring eight in another. Kent led the Lady Bearcats with a season high 13 at Two Rivers.
Junior Lexi Franklin went down with an injury in a game in Two Rivers and was forced to sit out the Danville game. She hit a 3 against Cossatot River last Tuesday for her only points, but it put the game away. She is sporting an 11-point per game average.
The Lady Bearcats hope that gets Franklin back on track. She had scored a season high 23 in the win over Paris and had already scored eight first quarter points before being slowed by the injury.
Layla Byrum, a starter, makes her presence known on both ends of the floor even if her contributions are not typically seen in the scoring column, though she is quite capable of doing that. Byrum is second on the team in both steals and assists.
Off the bench, sophomores Roni Tillery and Angie Brown have logged considerable minutes with Tillery sometimes running the point. Tillery scored 12 in a game in Arkoma. Brown had a streak of six straight games with an assist snapped against Cossatot.
JJ Keatts and Ciara Smith complete head coach Tim Goers’ roster and have both seen action in 10 of 13 games.
Going into Friday’s games the Lady Bearcats had won 22 straight conference games dating back to late in the 2020-2021 season.
To continue the streak, and or secure a second straight conference title they will have to do so playing six of eight games on the road starting on Jan. 24 at Hackett.
Boys
The Bearcats have put together a little run of their own, winning three straight Conference 3A-4 games after starting 0-2.
In one of those the Bearcats hit a school record 15 3s in beating Danville 84-64. They followed that offensive explosion up with another in a 73-59 win over Cossatot River last Tuesday.
In Danville and Cossatot games junior Colter Fisher scored 22 and 20, respectively, and sophomore Jace Washburn, who came over from football in time for conference play, scored 20 and 19.
Dakota Mattson, another sophomore who also plays football, accounted for 20 points in the two games.
Seniors Raiden Ferguson and C.J. Johnson, along with sophomore Noah Harrel have also been key contributors for the resurgent Bearcats.
Overall the Bearcats went into Friday’s game 7-5 overall.
