Athletics

The Drexel Lady Cats headed south to face the Rich Hill Tigers in their first WEMO Conference game for the 2011-12 season. Drexel had previously defeated Rich Hill in the WEMO Conference Tournament but it was a battle. The first quarter Rich Hill took the lead by one but that was the last time they would see the lead. Drexel prevailed over the Tigers in every quarter but the first, winning 46-33.

The Drexel Boys Basketball Team hosted the Ballard Bulldogs last Thursday night. Drexel defeated the Bulldogs in an uneven match-up 92-20. Coach Dennis Bolton stated, “As a team we had set some goals to meet during this game. We did very well meeting some of them, such as holding the opponent to under 40 points, creating 25 or more deflections and steals combined, attacking the offensive glass and making a high percentage of our shots.

The Drexel Lady Cats traveled to Prairie View to play a very good Kansas basketball team. Prairie View was bigger and stronger than the Lady Cats and the Lady Cats suffered their 5th loss 41-55. The JV team were also outsized but they fought till the end losing only by 5 points. The Lady Cats had a total of 33 turnovers for the game. “There is no way you can win games with that many turnovers,” stated Coach Bill Johnston. “We have to get more fundamentally and mentally sound.”

The Drexel Basketball Team headed to Kansas last week to play Prairie View. Prairie View kept the team on their toes the entire game. Coach Dennis Bolton stated “This was a good game for us to learn there are only certain things we can control and not to get upset over the things we can not control. We need to focus on rebounding and playing good defense and forget about the rest of what is going on. We can not let a couple of missed shots take us away from the rest of our game. I liked the way the boys responded in the second half.”

Drexel Lady Cats went back to the hardwood with some new found enthusiasm. Coach Jimmie Gentry and Coach Bill Johnston are working the girls hard getting them ready for the beginning of WEMO Conference play.
First game after the break was a tough one, Montrose. Montrose finished third in state last year. Senior Jessi Gunnels stated, “In the 4 years of playing Montrose it was the best the Lady Cats have every played them.”