The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team rallied past the Lubbock High Lady Westerners on Tuesday taking the contest, 4844.
With the win, the Lady Cats improve to 2-2 overall on the season.
Lubbock High opened the contest with a put-back by Faith Ford, but on the other end, Littlefield answered, as Ari Castillo dropped in a put-back off of her own miss to tie the game, 2-2. With just under six minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Izzy Palmer was fouled on an attempt by Amoni Jefferson. She made one-of-two shots at the line, putting the Lady Westerners up, 3-2.
Nevaeh Esquibel dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Castillo to put the Lady Cats in front, 4-3, and Castillo followed it up with a lay-up on their next possession, pushing the lead to, 6-3. However, it was short-lived, as Kamille Reynolds buried a three from the top of the key for Lubbock High to tie the game, 6-6, with just over four minutes to play in the first quarter.
Cali Saldana answered with a three of her own from the left elbow off of the inbound pass putting the Lady Cats back in front, 9-6, as Lubbock High took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Pierce Scheppler dropped in a lay-up, but Jefferson responded with a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Castillo to push their lead to, 12-8, with 1:31 remaining in the quarter.
Palmer answered with a three from the right elbow for Lubbock High and on their next possession, Scheppler was fouled on a putback attempt by Cali Saldana. She converted both free throws to put the Lady Westerners back in front, 13-12. With 25 seconds left to play in the quarter, Palmer was fouled on an attempt by Cobi Saldana and split the free throws, make it a one-possession lead for Lubbock High, 14-12, as the first quarter came to a close.
Lubbock High came out hot to begin the second frame, as Palmer drained a three from the right elbow and Reynolds followed it up with a reverse lay-up to stretch their lead to, 19-12. Reynolds took it through the middle for a lay-up on their next possession, and Ford followed it up with a put-back off of her own miss on their next time down to stretch the lead to, 23-12, with 5:33 to play in the first half.
With 4:08 remaining in the half, Jefferson drew a block on Palmer and made one-of-two shots from the line to cut the lead to 10 points, 23-13. With 3:50 to play in the half, Rianna Canono was fouled on an attempt by Jefferson, earning a trip to the line. She sank both free throws to push the lead back out to 12 points, before Jefferson answered on the other end with a pass to Esquibel on the cut to the basket for a lay-up, making the score, 25-15.
With 3:21 left to play in the half, Castillo was fouled on a defensive rebound by Reynolds and made one-of-two shots from the line to make the score, 25-16, as Lubbock High took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Cali Saldana drained a three from the right elbow off of the screen from Castillo, but Ford answered on the other end with a jumper from the free-throw line to make the score, 27-19. With under two minutes to play in the half, Jefferson picked up a steal from Ford in their own end and dropped in a reverse lay-up to trim the lead to, 21-27. With just over a minute remaining in the half, Jefferson picked up another steal and got it ahead to Castillo on the fast-break for a lay-up, cutting the lead to, 27-23. But, Lubbock High would score on a second-chance bucket, as Palmer hit Ford down low for a layup to close out the first half with the Lady Westerners in front, 29 23. Esquibel opened up the second half, drawing a foul on a threepoint attempt on Palmer. She converted all three free throws to make it a three-point game, 29-26. Scheppler dropped in a lay-up in transition for Lubbock High, but on the other end, Jefferson was fouled on an attempt by Palmer, who picked up her fourth foul of the game. Jefferson sank both free throws, trimming the lead to, 31 28. Scheppler dropped in a lay-up in transition and Evalynn Rodriguez knocked down a jumper from the left side to push the lead back out to, 36-28, with 5:31 to play in the third quarter.
With just over five minutes remaining in the quarter, Castillo dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Cali Saldana, but Ford and Rodriguez answered with back-to-back buckets for Lubbock High, extending their lead to, 4030. Littlefield took a time out with 3:44 to play in the third, and out of the break, Cali Saldana dropped in a fast-break lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Canono. She missed the free throw, leaving the score, 40-32.
Reynolds dropped in a lay-up on the right side for Lubbock High, but on the other end, Jefferson got to the rim for a lay-up off of the assist from Nia Cleveland, drawing an and-one foul on Canono. She converted the free throw to trim the lead to, 42-35, and on their next possession, she was fouled on the floor by Canono, who picked up her third foul. Jefferson converted both free throws, cutting the lead to, 42-37.
Cali Saldana drove the right side for a lay-up to close out the third quarter with Lubbock High in front, 41-39.
Ford was fouled on an attempt by Jefferson, who picked up her fourth foul with 6:59 to play in the game. Ford made one-of-two shots from the line, but on the other end, Jefferson drew a shooting foul on Reynolds and converted both attempts from the line, making the score, 42-41, with 6:48 to play in the game.
With 5:37 remaining, Esquibel took a charge on Canono, who picked up her fourth foul of the contest. On the offensive end, Esquibel knocked down a jumper from the top of the key, off of the assist from Castillo to put Littlefield in front, 43-42. Lubbock High took a time out with 4:10 left to play, and out of the break, Jefferson was fouled on an attempt by Scheppler; she converted both shots at the line to make it a three-point Littlefield lead, 45-42.
Lubbock High took a time out with 2:37 left to play and out of the break, Reynolds dropped in a lay-up to make it a one-point game, 45-44. With 1:22 remaining, Cali Saldana was fouled on the floor by Rodriguez and made one-oftwo shots at the line, making the score, 46-44.
Littlefield took back-to-back time outs, and with 11.4 seconds to play, Jefferson was fouled on the floor by Reynolds, her third. She converted both attempts at the line to ice the game, as Littlefield took the contest, 48-44. Jefferson led the way for the Lady Cats with 17 points, to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Cali Saldana joined her in double-figures scoring with 11 points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Castillo tallied nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block, while Esquibel contributed nine points, two rebounds and two steals. Valdez chipped in two points, one rebound and one steal, while Cobi Saldana added two rebounds and Cleveland finished with one assist.
The Lady Cats will be back in action on Tuesday the 19th when they travel to Lubbock Cooper to take on Liberty.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.