Story By Heath Hambrick

Wise! Wise! Wise! Fort Payne freshman Naomi Wise led the Lady Wildcats to a 65-56 victory in the TopCat rivalry over 5A No.1 Scottsboro Tuesday night. Wise collected a double-double, with 30 points and 13 rebounds. 

Wise scored the first basket of the game before Scottsboro took advantage of Fort Payne turnovers and converting them into points to take a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, Scottsboro built a six-point lead early in the quarter. Fort Payne’s Zimri and Zaria Craig went on a 7-0 run to give the Lady Wildcats the lead back at 22-21 with 3:05 to go in the first half. 

But Scottsboro answered with back-to-back three pointers to regain the lead at 27-22 with 2:48 remaining in the half. 

Fort Payne’s Wise went on a 6-1 run in the final two minutes to tie the game at 28-28 at the end of the first half. 

The Lady Wildcats continued the run to start the third quarter going on a 7-0 run to take a seven point lead 35-28 early in the quarter thanks to baskets from Wise, Zimri and Zaria Craig. Zaria added another three later in the quarter while Wise added another six points to close out the quarter and give Fort Payne a 44-36 lead heading to the final quarter. 

Through three quarters, the Fort Payne game plan had worked to perfection. The Lady Wildcats successfully limited Scottsboro's strong three-point shooting. Fort Payne also limited Scottsboro’s Izzy Nelson from scoring in the point. Fort Payne’s defensive effort was the key to the Lady Wildcats victory Tuesday night. 

In the final quarter, Fort Payne built its largest lead of the game, 11 with four minutes to go in the contest. Zimri Craig sealed the victory at the free through line in the final moments, going 4 of 6 to preserve a nine-point win for the Lady Wildcats. 

“I’m extremely proud of our team tonight. We played well from the opening tip and battled for all four quarters against a very good basketball team. We made some great plays on offense and defense,” said Fort Payne Head Coach Steve Sparks. “Most importantly, we didn’t quit; we finished the game. Earlier in the season we didn’t close out a couple of big games when we had the lead, but tonight we handled the ball, made our free throws, defended, and got the stops we needed. I want the girls to enjoy this win, but we also understand that one game doesn’t make a season. We must keep improving and stay focused.”

Wise led Fort Payne with a double-double, 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Zimri and Zaria Criag each score 16 points. 

Fort Payne improves to 20-4 as Scottsboro falls to 20-3 on the season.

Junior Varsity

Fort Payne 67, Scottsboro 30

The Lady Wildcats led at the end of each quarter (20-7, 41-10, 59-20, 67-30) 

Ansley Newton led Fort Payne with 35 points and Marleigh Burt scored 19 points.