Gavin Caskey didn’t tell anyone he was “going downtown” this past Thursday evening. Thinking in the literal sense one might believe that it was because he is only in the ninth grade, and it was a school night. As it turned out he went ten times. What? Surely, he heard it from his parents, right? Why would a teenager from Quitman need to go downtown ten times in one night? Maybe a little explanation is needed.
In basketball terms “going downtown” means making shots from behind the three-point line. While Caskey’s parents might have gotten upset over the first scenario, Quitman head coach Mike Black, his teammates and the fans in the stands was pleased as they could be as under the second scenario Caskey treated them to a record setting performance.
Ten times, Caskey stepped behind the arc and drained a three pointer to help lift Quitman to a resounding 75-40 victory over Castor. The marksmanship set a new QHS school record and tied the all-time Jackson Parish record set by Alex Wyatt of Weston in 2017. What makes it even more impressive is he did it in only 15 shots. That is an incredible 66.67% shooting percentage from roughly 20 feet away. Was it mentioned that he is only a 9th grader? Was it mentioned that he is a reserve on the team? Are you kidding me? You better believe it!!!!
The sharp shooting Freshman served quickly notice in the first half that he was having the game of his life when he made 6 treys, including his first three to help Quitman race 19-9 first quarter lead and a 39-20 advantage at the break.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” said Caskey about his record performance. “I felt good in the warmups. Then the first couple went in and then another.” 
The question was asked about did he feel like he was in “the zone” and did the basket look as big as an ocean? Typical questions that you hear in the rare events like this.
“No, it wasn’t really anything like that,” confessed Caskey. “Really when I missed my fourth shot, I though well that was fun but as I was heading back up court my coach and teammates kept telling me to keep shooting. Them believing in me is what really pumped me up to keep firing. The result was a career high 30 points and his name forever etched in the school’s all-time annals.
QHS 52 Oak Grove 38 – Quitman evened their record at 12-12 by limiting home standing Oak Grove to single digits in three of the four quarters played. L.D. Manning scored 17 and Logan Ponder added 11 as QHS won their second of three games played in just four days this past Friday.
Calvin 79 QHS 50: The gauntlet began with the Wolverines falling to Calvin, who is #1 in Class C, 79-50. It was a 28-point third quarter by the 22-1 Cougars that put the game out of reach. Quitman actually shot the ball pretty well but they could only get 30 looks the entire contest against the swarming Calvin defense.
Lady Wolverines upset #7 Oak Grove 37-34
Class B Quitman is gaining quite a reputation as “giant killers” this season. Already this year the Lady Wolverines have taken down a Class 5A school, three Class 2A schools and 2 Class A schools. Now you can add another Class A school to the list and a highly ranked one at that. To make it even more impressive QHS did it on the road.
Quitman held #7 ranked Oak Grove, who with the loss fell to 10-3 on the year, to just 12 first half points and then survived a second half rally to take the three-point victory that improved their record to 16-8. Coach Kyle Leach didn’t have to look hard to see who did the damage. Three girls scored all but one of the 37 points put up by Quitman and took 34 of the 42 shots attempted.
Brayli Stewart led the way with 15 on 5 of 11 shooting including making 4 of 10 from the three-point line. Bethany Leach added 13 and attributed four steals and four assists. Cali Deal pitched in with 8 and Summer Grillette got the lone other point.
photos submitted by Thomas Barker
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