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  • Misty Watson/ The Daily Citizen Dalton High basketball players, from left, Shaquon Moore, Amanda Rector and Kelly Phillips look over a team yearbook before their banquet at the high school on Wednesday night.

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March 17, 2010

Cats' year had some 'feathers'

Dalton High celebrates basketball seasons with banquet

Adam Krohn adamkrohn@daltoncitizen.com

In a 15-team Region 7-4A that ran deep, Dalton High’s boys and girls basketball teams hung with the best squads throughout the season.

That’s what sticks out most to Catamounts coach Mike Duffie and Lady Catamounts coach Jeff McKinney.

“I’m real pleased with the season,” Duffie said. “Last year we stepped into the region and didn’t realize the level at which we had to play. I’m proud they came in this season with the right attitude and focus and played at a high level every night.”

Said McKinney: “Overall, I was very pleased we were able to keep up with what is a very strong region. They gave a great effort and that’s all I could ask.”

The Cats and Lady Cats each missed the state playoffs by a victory as their seasons ended in the second round of the region tournament. The Cats finished 19-5 overall and 12-5 in region play and the Lady Cats went 19-7 and 10-4. On Wednesday, both teams celebrated their seasons with a banquet at the high school.

For the Cats, season highlights included winning the Pickens County Classic during the Christmas holidays — included was a convincing 71-48 win over Duluth, a Class 5A school — a regular season comeback win against region champion Hiram, and another comeback win against Cass after trailing by 15 points in the second half of that game.

“Those are some nice feathers in the cap,” Duffie said.

The Cats also had a significant individual accomplishment their final game of the season. Senior Kelly Phillips notched his 1,000th career point in a 61-55 loss to Sprayberry. He finished his career with 1,012 points.

“It felt real good to know I got that,” Phillips said. “I was hoping to do it, but after the game I wasn’t sure if I did. After the game, they said I was short, but then in a meeting two weeks later they told me I got it. It was touching to hear that.”

Looking forward to next season, the Cats must replace starting seniors Phillips, Shaquon Moore, Jessy Gonzalez and Tevin Collins, as well as senior reserves Jalen Fields and Trae Washington.

But Duffie is confident that returning players such as posts Watts Dantzler, Floyd Coffey and Tyson Thornton and guards Tristen Harrell, Shaque Robinson and Chris White can make a positive impact in 2010-11.

“We’ve got some good pieces and some other kids who could rise to the occasion,” Duffie said.

The Lady Cats’ season was one of ups and downs. They went 3-0 at the Carpet Capital Classic at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center during the holiday break, won the Cass Invitational and reached their goal of a 20-win season.

“We set goals early and tried our best to accomplish them,” McKinney said. “We practiced hard and made a lot of improvement.”

Low points in the season included hanging with a few of the region’s better teams — Northwest Whitfield, Rome and Osborne — but coming up short at the end, losing second-half leads to all three opponents.

The Lady Cats also suffered a scare on Feb. 16 playing at Sequoyah when McKinney was rushed to a local hospital with an irregular heartbeat. Dalton managed to turn the situation into a positive, winning two games in McKinney’s absence and growing stronger as a team.

“It brought us closer together because you never know when your last day is,” said Markisha Washington, a senior guard/forward who will play for Fort Valley State University. “You have to make your day worthwhile and love the people around you and that’s what we did.”

The Lady Cats will lose three starters — Washington, guard Kate Houston and forward Shelby Whitfield — to graduation, but will bring back several key players next season, including starters Amanda Rector and April Besley and a number of key reserves.

“We’ll be very guard-strong next year, which will make us even quicker,” McKinney said. “The well is not dry. I’m excited about next season.”

Gonzalez and Houston received the Robert Cox Academic Awards this year.

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