Sports
Duluth Lady Cats End Season With 44-43 Loss
Coach Pittman proud of the Lady Cats despite stinging defeat by Etowah
Duluth Coach Chad Pittman was still feeling the sting Monday of the Lady Wildcats season-ending, one-point loss to No. 6 Etowah in the opening round of the Class AAAAA state tournament last weekend. Even so he couldn't mask the pride he felt in his players.
Asked what he said to his team after McKinzey Irvin nailed a free throw with 2.5 seconds left to lift Etowah to a 44-43 victory and end the Lady Wildcats (16-13) dream of winning the state championship, Pittman replied: "I doubt there is any coach in the state who has a speech ready for something like that."
"I told them there was nothing I could say that was going to ease the pain for them. I told them I was really proud of what they accomplished and that I was especially proud of our three seniors and the hard work they had put in over the past three years. I told them I felt like they would be able to go on and compete at the next level because of their hard work."
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The season was a long journey for the Lady Wildcats and their first-year head coach.
After finishing 12-13 and failing to qualify for the state tournament for the first time in four years last season, Duluth lost head coach Jeremy Huckaby who left to coach at Lanier High School.
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Pittman, who coached previously at Jackson County and Jefferson High School in Gainesville, took over the reins.
"We had to jump some hurdles to get to state tournament," Pittman said. "Part of the season was a little like a roller coaster ride as the girls got used to a new coach and new coaching system. It was a little bumpy at first, but they finished strong."
Pittman's team also achieved some very important goals along the way, including a strong showing in Region 7-AAAAA where they finished 9-5 to become the No. 3 seed in the region tournament. And the Lady Cats might have done much better had freshman standout Katie Powell not sprained her ankle in the final regular season game. She missed the entire tournament.
Another goal, Pittman said, was to qualify for state tournament. "Of course, like all teams, we wanted to advance deeper into the tournament than we did. Hopefully, we can use this as a motivating factor to do better next season. I'm sure we'll remember this loss until the first game next year."
