Now for something completely different. District 15-5A Superintendents and Athletic Directors have approved new scheduling for some district basketball games in January and February. Under the new scheduling, impacting all Sulphur Springs home district games and three on the road, the Lady Cats and Wildcats’ varsity teams will play back to back games in the same gym.
The Lady Cats’ varsity will play at around 6:15 p.m. and the Wildcats’ varsity will follow at around 7:30 p.m. The new scheduling will begin January 11 when Greenville comes to Sulphur Springs and conclude with the district games at Texas High on February 5. Before the two varsity contests, there will be a 5 p.m. JV contest. The first four impacted district contests will have the Lady Cats JV playing in the main high school gym and the next four will feature the Wildcats’ JV. Freshmen Wildcats games will be played at either Sulphur Springs Middle School or at the high school Auxiliary Gym. At the current time, the Lady Cats have only a JV and varsity teams.
Lady Cats Basketball Coach Brittney Tisdell said this schedule is what she is used to. She said they had a schedule like this when she was at Paris and Mildred. Coach Tisdell said it would bring bigger crowds for the girls’ games. She said district girls’ coaches were unanimous in their support of the idea. Several of the boys’ coaches opposed the idea. Coach Tisdell said the new scheduled would put girls basketball before some new fans. She said her team was excited by the prospects of having more fans at their games.
Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta said there were pros and cons to the new schedule. He said the new schedule would allow fans to see both the girls and boys varsity programs at one place. Coach Cipoletta said he figured that was why superintendents and athletic directors voted for the change. He said a negative for him was that having the Wildcats’ freshmen at a different site from the varsity would make it harder for him to see them. The huge crowds that show up for Mount Pleasant and Wildcats boys varsity games are expected to create some logistical headaches on game nights. Coach Cipoletta said he would be interested to hear public reaction to the change. He had some advice for basketball fans. Get to these district games early.
