Enterprise topples No. 7 Baker in OT

The No. 8-ranked Enterprise Wildcats (8-2) hosted the No. 7-ranked Baker Hornets on Dec. 11 and picked up a 56-55 overtime win to cap off a brutal week of competition.

The game against Baker was Enterprise’s third of the week and second against a Top 10 school. After starting off the week with the Wildcats’ first loss of the season – 47-45 – against the Class 6A No. 4-ranked Eufaula Tigers, Enterprise traveled to Montgomery to face off against another tope 6A school in the R.E. Lee Generals and again fell 57-56.

Both of those losses – Enterprise’s only losses of the season thus far – came on late scores from the opposition, but against Baker the Wildcats turned the tide of that scenario. With just seconds remaining in the game, and Enterprise trailing 55-54, Elijah Terry caught his own rebound and tipped the ball in to give the Wildcats a much-needed 56-54 win.

Enterprise outscored Baker 29-19 in the first half but Baker managed to cut the lead to 40-37 going into the final period. In the fourth quarter, Baker outscored Enterprise 11-8 to tie the score 48-48 at the end of regulation. In the overtime period, Enterprise narrowly outscored Baker 8-7.

Both teams struggled to shoot at times with Enterprise shooting 37 percent from the field and Baker shooting just 34 percent. The Wildcats also outrebounded Baker 52-34 in the win.

Terry led the Wildcats with 16 points and 17 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Ken Mitchell added 14 points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists, while Keion Dunlap scored 12 points. Tomar Hobdy scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Against Lee on Dec. 9, the Wildcats fell into a huge hole in the first quarter down 25-2 before exploding to outscore Lee 22-6 in the second quarter. Enterprise managed to cut Lee’s lead to 31-24 at halftime and then continued to dominate in the third quarter outscoring Lee 19-9 to take a 43-40 lead into the final period. Lee managed to rebound and outscore Enterprise 17-11 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Terry again led Enterprise with 17 points and five rebounds, while Mitchell scored 14 points.

The Wildcats dropped their first game of the season on Dec. 7 at home to the Eufaula Tigers by a score of 47-45 on a late Tiger bucket.

With Enterprise trailing 45-42 with under two minutes remaining, Mitchell drove hard to the basket and knocked down a jumper as he was hit in midair. Enterprise coach Rhett Harrelson could be heard yelling “And 1!” as the ball dropped through the net and a foul was called. Mitchell sunk the free throw to tie the game 45-45 with just over a minute remaining.

Eufaula drove the ball down the court and held the ball for what it anticipated was the last shot. Tiger senior Caleb Paige drove to the basket and heaved a floater over Wildcat defenders and after bouncing around the rim, the ball finally dropped giving Eufaula a 47-45 lead with 2.8 seconds remaining.

Terry then heaved a half court shot that bounced off the rim securing the Eufaula win.

Both teams struggled to find the basket in the first quarter with Enterprise taking an 11-10 lead going into the second period. Eufaula then outscored Enterprise 16-4 in the second quarter - including a 9-0 run – to take a 26-15 lead into halftime.

Enterprise clawed their way back in into the game with hard-nosed defense and outscoring Eufaula 10-4 in the third quarter and 20-17 in the fourth quarter. Both Enterprise and Eufaula had starters that missed the game due to injuries.

The Wildcats had their worst shooting night of the season so far, hitting just 29 percent of their shot attempts, while Eufaula shot 42 percent from the field. Enterprise was also outrebounded 43-26 in the loss. The Wildcat defense, however, forced 23 turnovers, which Enterprise scored 16 points off of.

Mitchell led Enterprise with 12 points and two steals, while Dylan Baldwin scored seven points. Tomar Hobdy and Elijah Terry both scored six points each and Terry also grabbed 14 rebounds.

Eufaula was led by Joshua Paige with 16 points and six rebounds, while Caleb Paige added 10 points and Rashad Frye scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Lady Cats (5-3) also fell to Eufaula 50-25 on Dec. 7. After Eufaula jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter the Lady Tigers never looked back, outscoring the Lady Cats in every period. 

Enterprise was led by senior Jaida Gosha with 10 points, while Joye Anderson and Keiona Moore scored three points each. 

The Lady Cats then picked up a big 77-60 win over Lee on Dec. 9. After getting down 12-11 in the first quarter, Enterprise answered in the second quarter to take a 31-26 lead at halftime. The Lady Cats outscored Lee again in the third and fourth quarter to secure the win. The 77 points was the most points scored by a Lady Cat team since 2012.

Gosha scored a career-high 29 points in the win, while Dashia Nelson scored 18 points.

Enterprise will host Marianna (Fla.) on on Dec. 17 with the girls playing at 5:30 p.m. and boys playing at 7 p.m.