The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team rallied past the Denver City Fillies on Tuesday, 47-41, to open the district season.
With the win, the Lady Cats improve to 10-5 overall, 1-0 in district play.
Sydney Roberts and Milka Leyva opened the contest with back- to- back threes from the wings and Roberts followed it up with a jumper from the right elbow, as Denver City opened the contest on an, 8-0, scoring run, as the Lady Cats called a time out to try and slow down the Fillies’ momentum with 5:15 remaining in the opening quarter.
Out of the break, Ari Castillo got the Lady Cats on the board with a lay- up off of the assist from Arianna Cruz, making the score, 8-2. With 3:30 remaining in the opening quarter, Tori Rodriguez knocked down a three from the right wing, but Castillo answered with a lay-up and Cruz followed it up with a steal on their own end, taking it to the hoop for a quick lay-up to cut the lead to, 11-6.
Marysa Saenz knocked down a short jumper from the right wing off of the assist from Nevaeh Esquibel and Esquibel followed it up with a put-back off of the miss by Cruz to make it a one-point Fillies’ lead, 11-10. With time winding down in the quarter, Cali Saldana picked up a steal, taking it to the hoop on the fast-break for a lay-up to close out the quarter with the Lady Cats in front, 12-11.
Mia Carmona was fouled on an attempt by Amiah Elizondo and sank both free throws to regain the lead for the Fillies, 13-12, and two plays later, Julissa Granados followed it up with a three from the left wing to stretch their lead to, 16-12. With 5:54 remaining in the first half, Julissa Granados dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Mia Carmona, but Cruz answered with a floater in the lane off of the assist from Jazmine Rosalez, trimming the lead to, 1814.
Granados was fouled on an attempt by Cruz and made one-oftwo free throws, pushing their lead back out to, 19-14, and Roberts followed it up with a steal from Saenz, taking it the other way for a lay-up to stretch the lead back out to, 21-14.
Denver City took a time out with 3:06 to play in the half, and out of the break, Granados was fouled on an attempt by Castillo. She made one-of-two shots from the line, making the score, 22-14. Granados was fouled again this time by Rosalez with 2:49 to play in the half. She again split the free throws and Roberts followed it up with a floater from the right wing to push their lead to, 25-14, with 2:20 remaining in the half.
Esquibel drew a shooting foul on Annie Gonzales, earning a trip to the free-throw line. She split the attempts to cut the lead to 10 points, but it was short-lived, as Rodriguez drained a three from the left elbow, making the score, 2815. Kennadi Hanlin answered with a three of her own, and Esquibel dropped in a put-back at the buzzer to cut the lead to, 28-20, going into the locker room at halftime.
Castillo opened the second half with a lay-up off of the inbound pass from Saenz and with 5:42 to play in the third, Cruz knocked down a jumper from the right elbow off of the assist from Elizondo, trimming the lead to, 2824. Rodriguez dropped in a transition lay-up to get the Fillies on the board in the third quarter, but Castillo fired right back with a layup, cutting the lead to, four points, 30-26.
With 4:13 left to play in the quarter, Castillo stole the inbound pass from Leyva and took it to the hoop for a lay-up, as Denver City took a time out with their lead cut to two points, 30-28. Out of the break, Saldana picked up a steal from Leyva and took it down to the hoop on the fast-break for the lay-up to tie the game, 30-30, with 3:26 left to play in the quarter.
The Lady Cats kept the rally going, as Castillo passed the ball into Esquibel for a lay-up, as she drew an and- one foul on Granados, who picked up her fourth foul of the game. The free throw was good from Esquibel, putting the Lady Cats in front, 3330. Castillo dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Hanlin, but Denver City answered, as Carmona knocked down a jumper from the right wing to make the score, 37-32. Littlefield closed out the quarter with back- to- back buckets, extending their lead to, 39-32, going into the final quarter of play.
Carmona was fouled on an attempt by Elizondo with 7:02 to play in the fourth quarter. She split the free throws for the Fillies, but Cruz answered on the other end with a lay-up to push their lead to, 4133. Carmona drove to the basket for a lay-up and Roberts followed it up with a three from the left elbow for the Fillies to cut the Littlefield lead to, 41-38, but on the next play, Hanlin got out on the fast-break and dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Natalie Garcia. She missed the free throw, leaving the score, 4338.
With 2:45 remaining, Roberts dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Cruz, who picked up her third foul of the game. The free throw from Roberts was good, trimming the lead to, 43-41. Cruz drove to the basket and kicked the ball to Castillo for a lay-up, to make it a two-possession lead for the Lady Cats.
Littlefield took a time out with 46.6 seconds to play in the game and out of the break, Saldana dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Castillo to ice the game, giving Littlefield the victory, 4741.
The Lady Cats were led by Castillo, who tallied 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal, while Cruz chipped in eight points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds, and Esquibel tallied eight points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Saldana contributed six points, five steals, two rebounds and one assist, while Hanlin chipped in five points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist and Saenz finished with two points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Rosalez added one rebound and Elizondo finished with four rebounds and one assist.
The Lady Cats hosted Dimmitt on Friday, as District play continued. Results were not available at press time. They will continue district play on Tuesday with a road game against Brownfield.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.