The Lady Leopards had a huge challenge last Tuesday night from coach Jerry King. Take down the undefeated Wildcats of Rabun County. The game was at home and the team called for all Leopard fans to black out the game in support of the Lady Leopards.
BCHS pulled out the four point victory at the end of the game and upset the Wildcats for their first loss on the season 58-54. The win puts the Leopards in a tie with Rabun in the region with both teams having a 2-1 record. BCHS has an overall record of 12-5 on the season including the win over Oglethorpe County on Saturday night.
"It is not often our team gets to play the #1 team in the state so this is a special win,” Coach Jerry King said. “We showed great team effort to be down 12 to a team like Rabun and come back and win. It was great having all the support in our black out."
Scoring was low in the first period for the Leopards and they trailed the Wildcats by eight at the end of the period. The Wildcats manage to steal the ball from the Lady Leopards on multiple occasions preventing BCHS from scoring.
Deasha Beasley and Kaitlyn Duncan scored a basket each and Beasley added two free throws to the score. Duncan goes one of one from the line for the Lady Leopards seven first period points.
BCHS kicked it up a notch in the second period scoring 16 points and cuts the Wildcat lead to six, 29-23. The Leopards dug deep and made several drives for the goal and made the necessary baskets to shorten the lead.
Beasley scored six points on baskets and one point on the free throw line, Madison Franklin scored four points, Morgan Cox scored three points and Ashley Morris scored two points.
The Lady Leopards continued to score big in the third period and gain ground on the Wildcats. Franklin hit a three point play that got the ball rolling. Duncan scored six in the period, Franklin five points, Beasley four points Morris two points on the free throw line and Taylor Kennedy made a basket for two. The lead was down to five for the Wildcats and the Lady Leopards were looking to take the game.
BCHS went to the foul line 10 times in the fourth period and made seven of ten. Duncan went to shoot twice and hit three of four for the Lady Leopards.
The game was tied 49-49 after a three point play by Beasley with six minutes left on the clock. The Wildcats and Lady Leopards battled for the lead and it went back and fourth throughout the rest of the period.
BCHS took the lead with a basket but the Wildcats answered with a three point shot and took it back 52-51. Beasley made a basket and the Lady Leopards went back up in the lead but a Wildcat drew a foul and went to the line to shoot two. RCHS made one of two and the game was once again tied 53-53 with less than three minutes to play.
The Lady Leopards took the Lead 55-53 with 26 seconds left in the game. RCHS drew the foul and went to the line to shoot two shots. They made one of two leaving the Lady Leopards in the lead with less than 20 seconds.
BCHS was fouled back to back and Morris put in two points and Duncan put in the final point as the Lady Leopards defeated the unbeaten Rabun County Wildcats 58-54 for a region win.
The Lady Leopards saw action on the road Saturday night as they played Oglethorpe County. BCHS took the game 56-29 from the Patriots to add to the win column for the season.
The Lady Leopards outscored the Patriots in three of four periods and easily handed Oglethorpe the loss. Sarah O'Kelley scored four points and Madison Franklin, Kaitlyn Duncan and Taylor Kennedy scored two points each to give the Lady Leopards an eight point lead at the end of the first period.
The lead grew by ten in the second period with players Morgan Cox and Lauren Carter scoring a three point shot each, Taylor Kennedy scoring five points, Katlin Parker and Kaitlyn Duncan scoring two points each and Madison Franklin making a foul shot for one point. The score was 26-8 at the end of the half and the Lady Leopards had a comfortable lead to take into the locker room.
BCHS exploded in the third period and put 20 points on the board. The Patriots could only manage three points as the Lady Leopards lead grew by 17 points, 46-11. Deasha Beasley scored 11 points, Haley Warner, Franklin, O'Kelley and Kennedy put in two points each and Duncan made one of one from the free throw line to end the third period.
The Patriots got going in the fourth period and scored 18 points but BCHS put in 10 to stay in a commanding lead for the win. Lauren Carter sank a three point shot, Savannah Blalock made a basket for two points and Haley Warner hit a two point shot and went one of one on the free throw line.
The Leopards have a tough week ahead of them with three region games to play at home on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday against Union County, Fannin County and Lumpkin County.
