Lady 'Cats Outlast Prague; Wildcats Suffer Setback to Purcell

The Madill Lady Wildcats built a 38-10 lead by halftime and outlasted a late run by Prague to capture a 61-54 victory to open the Patriot Ford Byng Invitational Tournament Thursday (Jan. 9) morning. "We stepped up and won a big game," Madill coach Hugh Don Sweat said Thursday. Senior forward Haley Furr scored a team-high 28 points in the Lady 'Cats' triumph. Madill started fast on an 11-0 run to begin the game. Prague's first points came at the 1:27 mark of the first frame. It was 29-6 with 2:52 left in the first half. Prague put up a fight in the second half. However, Madill responded and kept Prague from making the comeback. Furr drove inside the lane for a layup to give the Lady 'Cats a 55-48 edge in the fourth with less than two minutes left. Kaylen Sweat's free throws with 30 seconds left ended Prague's hopes for a comeback.  The Wildcats led early, but turnovers left them with an unsurmountable deficit. Madill lost the game 49-25 to Purcell Thursday afternoon. Madill led 5-4 at the end of the first quarter. However, the 'Cats suffered through a string of turnovers on consecutive second-quarter possessions. That meant that Purcell gained the 18-9 cushion by halftime. The Dragons outscored Madill 31-16 in the second half for the win.  The girls meet Hugo at 4 p.m. in the semi-finals on Friday (Jan.10). The boys face Little Ax at 2:30 p.m. in the consolation bracket. Box Score-Girls Madill            13        25        9        14        61 Pra                2          8        14       30        54 Madill (3-3): Furr 28, Sweat 20, Green 6, Hartsfield 5, Schulke 2 Box Score-Boys Madill            5        4        11        5            25 Purc            4          14        13      18          49 Madill (3-3): Bond 6, Clement 6, Martinez 5, Bagley 3, Avery 3, Larason 2