Cats roll over Athens for Dawkins' 500th win

Cheerleaders and fans celebrate the milestone victory for Coach Wally Dawkins.

Whitehouse opened the basketball season with a convincing win last Friday night at Wildcat Arena defeating Athens by the score of 70-49.

This was not just the normal season opening win as the victory marked the 500th career win for Coach Wally Dawkins.

As the game came down to the final minutes, the Whitehouse faithful stood holding signs that simply read "500" and chanted out, "Wally" in support of his accomplishment.

The Wildcats showed that 2006-2007 may be the year of the "running Wildcats" as the team would post 34 points by the half and would explode with 23 points in the third quarter to build a 16-point lead going into the final period.

The Wildcats were led on the night by 6'6" junior Cade Clark who would post a game high 26 points with 12 of those coming in Whitehouse's big third quarter.

Clark would be the benefactor of many fast break points and assists from point guard Mitch Marquis who would have 12 points of his own on the night.

Kyle Ford would also fire in 12 points for the game and would be followed up by Kye Heck's 8 points.

Photos/Jim Jackson The Wildcats unveiled a fast-tempo game against Athens Friday, outscoring their opponent 70-49.

If most people were told that Whitehouse would put up 70 points on the night without the help of any three pointers, they may not believe it, but the Wildcats would use their fast break style and 16 points from the free throw line to offset an uncharacteristically off night from outside.

After the game, the Whitehouse Booster Club sponsored a reception honoring Coach Dawkins on this milestone in his coaching career.

The Wildcats will be back in action Friday in the Burger King Classic at UT Tyler and will take on Shreveport Southwood at 11:30 and Tyler Lee at 10:00 Saturday morning.

In the JV game, the Wildcats would turn around a 19-11 deficit at the half and pull out a 32-27 win over the Hornets. Drew Flynn would lead the Cats with 11 points followed by Blake Anglin with 8.

In the freshman game, Carl Caldwell would pour in 20 points, and Logan Taylor would chip in 14 points of his own to lead the Wildcats to a 52-38 victory over Athens. Both the JV and freshman squads will return to action on November 28th at home against T.K. Gorman.

Photo/Jim Jackson The fast-break style of the team and their excellent shooting from the free throw line led to the Wildcat victory.