The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity dropped a heart-breaker to the Shallowater Fillies on Friday, Dec. 20th, 56-54.
With the loss, the Lady Cats fall to 8-6 overall, 2-2 in district play.
Linley Wright was fouled on an attempt by Madison Williams to open the contest. Wright converted both free throws to give Shallowater a brief lead, but with 6:20 left to play in the opening quarter, Amoni Jefferson was fouled on an attempt by Lillie Wells. She sank both shots at the line to tie the game, and followed it up with a lay-up off of an assist from Cali Saldana to give Littelfield a one-possession lead, 4-2.
Jefferson drove the lane, dumping the ball off to Ari Castillo for a lay-up, and Nevaeh Esquibel kept the run going, as she banked in a three from the top of the key off of the assist from Williams, pushing the lead to, 9-2, as Shallowater took a time out with three minutes to play in the first quarter.
Out of the break, Castillo drove the right side and finished through contact for a lay-up to make the score, 11-2. However, Wells would take a charge on Esquibel, her second, with 2:17 to play in the quarter and the Fillies would capitalize, as Sidney Venable drained a three from the left wing off of the assist from Keelie Williams, slicing the lead to, 11-5.
Wells dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Emmakate Foster and in the closing second of the first quarter, Venable buried a three from the top of the key to make it a one-point Littlefield lead, 11-10.
Shallowater’s rally continued into the second frame, as Wright drained a three from the right elbow to make the score, 13-11, in favor of the Fillies, and she followed it up with a teal, passing to Maggie Grimes in transition for a lay-up to stretch the lead to, 1511, with 7:14 to play in the half.
Wright drove the left side of the basket for a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Cali Saldana. The free throw was good, making the score, 18-11. Grimes sank a three from the right wing, as Littlefield took a time out with Shallowater’s lead stretched to double-digits, 2111. Out of the break, Williams drained a three from the right elbow off of an assist from Castillo and on the other end, Grimes was called for an illegal screen, giving Littlefield the ball with 5:16 left to play in the half.
Cali Saldana was fouled by Grimes in transition, her second. She split the free throw attempts to make the score, 21-15, and on their next possession, Jefferson was fouled on an attempt by Wells. She made the first shot and missed the second, but gathered her own rebound, however the Lady Cats were unable to capitalize on the extra possession, trailing, 21-16.
With 2:13 to play in the half, Wright drove the left side of the basket for a lay-up, but on the other end, Williams was fouled on the floor by Venable, her second. She split the attempts at the line, but Carli Buckley answered with a lay-up in transition to push the lead back out to, 25-17. With under a minute to play in the half, Jefferson drained a three for the Lady Cats and Castillo dropped in a lay-up off of a steal to cut the lead to, 25-22, going into the locker room at halftime.
Grimes and Wells opened the second half with back-to-back lay-ups for the Fillies, but Esquibel answered with a drive for a layup, drawing an and-one foul on Wells, her third. She converted the free throw to make it a four-point game, 29-25, with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter. On the other end, Foster was fouled on an attempt by Castillo, her third; she made one-of-two shots from the line, making the score, 30-25.
Esquibel got to the basket for a lay-up and Castillo drew a block on Keelie Williams. She split the attempts at the line to make it a one- possession game, 30- 28. Wright knocked down a three from the left elbow, but on the other end, Castillo drove the lane, drawing a foul on Foster, her second. Castillo made the first shot and missed the second, but Jefferson was there for the offensive rebound, which led to Castillo being fouled on an attempt by Keelie Williams, her second. This time, Castillo sank both attempts at the line to make it a one-possession game, 33-31.
Jefferson picked up a steal in their own end and took it in for a lay-up to tie the game, 33-33, and to possessions later, Cali Saldana buried a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Castillo, pushing the Littlefield lead to, 3633, with 1:46 to play in the quarter. Jefferson hit Castillo down low for a lay-up, as she drew an and-one foul on Buckley. She missed the free throw leaving the score, 3833. With time winding down in the quarter, Cali Saldana was fouled on the floor by Buckley, her second. She split the attempts at the line to give Littlefield a six-point lead, 39-33, going into the final quarter of play.
Castillo knocked down a jumper from the left wing off of an assist from Esquibel to open the fourth quarter, and Jefferson followed it up with a steal, dishing it ahead to Castillo on the fast-break for a lay- up, pushing the lead to double-digits, 43-33. Shallowater took a time out with 6:16 to play in the game, and out of the break, Wells was fouled on an attempt by Castillo, her fourth. She made one-of-two shots from the line, trimming the lead to, 43-34.
Williams knocked down a jumper from the left elbow, but on the other end, Wright answered with a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Cali Saldana, her second. She converted the free throw to trim the lead to single-digits, 4537. With 4:15 to play, a five-second call was called on Cali Saldada and Shallowater capitalized, as Grimes was fouled on the floor by Cobi Saldana, her third. She split the attempts at the line to make the score, 45-38.
Wright buried a three from the left wing, but on the next play, Esquibel was fouled on an attempt by Venable, her fourth. She made just one-of-two shots from the line, and Venable answered with a three from the left wing to make the score, 46-44, as the Fillies took a time out with 3:33 to play in the game. Buckley scored a fast-break lay-up off of a Littlefield turnover to tie the game, 46-46, but with 2:53 remaining, Esquibel was fouled on the floor by Buckley, her third. She missed the first shot, but made the second to give Littlefield a one-point advantage, 47-46.
Buckley was fouuled on a steal by Cali Saldana, her third; she sank both shots at the line to give the Fillies a brief one-point lead, but it was short-lived as Esquibel dropped in a lay-up to make the score, 49-48, with 2:38 left to play. Castillo took a charge on Buckley, her fourth. With under two minutes to play, Jefferson was fouled on the floor by Grimes, who fouled out of the contest. She split the attempts at the line to make it a one- possession lead for Littlefield, 50-48.
Wright split a pair of free throws for Shallowater, but Jefferson answered on the other end with a spin to the basket for a lay-up, making the score, 52- 49. Shallowater would not go away, as Venable buried a three from the left wing to tie the game, 52-52, with 1:10 to play. Buckley was fouled on the floor by Cali Saldana, her fourth. She split the attempts to give Shallowater a one-point lead, 53-52.
With 26 seconds to play, Wright sank a pair of free throws to push their lead to, 55-52, as Littlefield took a time out. Littlefield advanced the ball across halfcourt, before calling a time out with 21.3 seconds to play. Out of the break, Esquibel inbounded the ball to Castillo for a quick lay-up to make it a one-point game, 55-54.
With under 10 seconds to play, Buckley was fouled on the floor by Cali Saldana, who fouled out; she made one-of-two shots from the line, as Shallowater went on to take the contest, 56-54.
Castillo led the team in scoring with 18 points, while Jefferson tallied 13 points, and Esquibel added 12 points. Williams chipped in six points and Cali Saldana finished with five points in the contest.
The Lady Cats will resume play on Friday when they begin play at the 33rd annual Wildcat Classic.