EHS hoops opens 2021-2022 season

The Enterprise Wildcats (2-0) and Lady Cats (1-2) opened the 2021-2022 season last week on the road.

The Lady Cats started their season off on Nov. 16 with a 53-48 loss to defending Class 1A State Champions Ponce de Leon (Fla.) on the road. Enterprise fell behind big early as Ponce de Leon jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter, but the Lady Cats came roaring back to outscore Ponce de Leon 18-6 in the second quarter to take a 21-20 lead into halftime.

Ponce de Leon took control again in the third quarter by outscoring Enterprise 22-13 to take a 42-33 lead into the fourth quarter. The Lady Cats outscored Ponce de Leon 14-11 but it wasn’t enough to overcome the lead Ponce de Leon had built in the third quarter.

Enterprise was led by senior Dashia Nelson in the loss with 17 points, while fellow senior Jaida Gosha added 15 points. Senior Daleville transfer Joye Anderson – in her Enterprise debut – chipped in with seven points.

The Lady Cats followed up with a 55-34 loss to Fairhope on the road on Nov. 19. Enterprise started out solid taking a 10-9 lead into the second quarter, but Fairhope dominated the second quarter outscoring the Lady Cats 22-7 to take a 31-17 lead into halftime. Fairhope continued to control the game in the second half, outscoring Enterprise 24-17 in the half, to secure the win.

Gosha led Enterprise against Fairhope with 11 points, while Alyssa Dean added seven points.

The Lady Cats picked up a resounding 58-13 win over Straughn on Nov. 22. Enterprise jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first quarter and stretched that lead to 32-6 at halftime. The Lady Cats continued to put the pressure on in the second half, outscoring the Lady Tigers 25-7 in the half. Enterprise held Straughn completely scoreless in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Cats then picked up a 67-36 win over Florala at home on Nov. 23. Enterprise held on to a very slim 11-10 lead going into the second quarter before exploding in the second quarter. The Lady Cats outscored Florala 28-5 in the period to take a 39-15 lead into halftime. Enterprise continued to that success outscoring Florala 18-15 in the third quarter and 10-6 in the fourth quarter.

Anderson scored a season-high 17 points in the win, while Nelson added 13 points. All but two Enterprise players managed to score points in the win, as well.

The Wildcats also opened their season on Nov. 19 on the road against Fairhope and came away with a 56-50 win in overtime.

The Wildcats jumped ahead 15-8 in the first quarter but the Pirates managed to outscore Enterprise 12-11 in the second quarter to cut the Wildcat lead to 26-20 going into halftime. Fairhope again outscored Enterprise 13-12 in the third quarter and 12-7 in the fourth quarter to tie the game up 45-45 at the end of regulation. Enterprise, however, owned the overtime period outscoring Fairhope 11-5 to capture the win.

In the win, Enterprise shot 41 percent from the field as a team but just 13 percent from the three-point line, while Fairhope knocked down 10-of-22 three-pointers. Enterprise was efficient at the foul line, though, converting 10-of-14 attempts and forced 14 turnovers. Enterprise scored 10 points off those turnovers – compared to just three points off turnovers for Fairhope – and outrebounded Fairhope 39-19. The Wildcats also scored 40 points in the paint, compared to just 10 points in the paint for the Pirates.

With a number of its players unavailable for the opener due to only beginning practice the week of the game – because of football playoffs – Enterprise was led by Elijah Terry as he started his senior campaign off with a double-double. Terry scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, while Hawaii transfer Ken Mitchell chipped in with 11 points in his Enterprise debut. Senior Quentin Hayes added six points and six rebounds with two assists and two steals, while both Jordan Hines and Marshawn Fitzpatrick scored five points each.

The Wildcats headed to Alabaster to take part in the Thompson Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 22. Enterprise won the tournament championship last season. In the opening round this year, Enterprise thumped Calera 67-40.

After taking a 19-16 lead in the first quarter, Enterprise stretched the lead to 28-21 at halftime but took control of the game in the second half. The Wildcats outscored Calera 23-11 in the third quarter to take a 51-32 lead into the final period. Enterprise again outscored Calera 16-8 in the final quarter to advance to the semifinals.

Against Calera, Enterprise shot 50 percent from the field and held Calera to just 28 percent shooting, while Enterprise outrebounded Calera 38-25 and scored 42 points in the paint compared to just 12 points for Calera.

Terry had another double-double as he scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds along with blocking three shots and dishing three assists. Hines added 14 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Mitchell scored 10 points, had three assists, blocked two shots and earned two steals.

The Wildcats knocked off Northridge in the semifinals by a score of 51-47. The Wildcats controlled the game for the most part in the first half, taking a 30-19 lead into halftime, but Northridge bounced back to outscore Enterprise 14-6 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 36-33. Enterprise outscore Northridge 15-14 in the final period to hang on for the four-point win.

Enterprise shot 50 percent from the field against Northridge, while holding Northridge to 37 percent shooting. The Wildcats were outrebounded for the first time this season 28-27 but also forced 14 turnovers.

Terry again led the way for Enterprise with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Hayes scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds. Tomar Hobdy added six points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Enterprise will face off against host school Thompson in the tournament finals today at noon.

Enterprise travels to Carver-Montgomery on Nov. 30. Also, EHS announced that the Jan. 8 home game against Jan. 8 will be a basketball homecoming game and the school will also a homecoming dance on Jan. 9 sponsored by the Big Blue Band.