The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity basketball team suffered their first loss of the season on Monday, falling to the Abernathy Antelopes, 71-40.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 2-1 overall on the year.
Case Micheletti opened the contest with a lay-up for Abernathy, but Elijah Rodriguez answered on the other end with a put-back off of a miss by Jayden Barrio, tying the game, 2-2. With 6:20 to play in the opening quarter, Jose Payan took a charge on Darion Duvall, but the Wildcats could not capitalize on the extra possession, as Abernathy got the ball back and Case Micheletti dropped in a lay-up off of a turnover by Littlefield to put the Antelopes back in front, 4-2, with 5:14 to play in the first quarter.
Barrio was fouled on the floor by Kolt Micheletti, earning a trip to the line. He made one-of-two attempts at the line to trim the lead to, 4-3. With 3:16 left to play, Case Micheletti hit a deep three from the right elbow, off of the assist from Duvall, and he followed it up with a lay-up in transition to stretch their lead to, 9-3.
Barrio dropped in a putback off of his own miss to cut the lead to, 9-5, but on the other end, Case Micheletti got the ball down low to Josiah Scott for a layup, pushing the lead back out to, 11-5, with 2:18 to go in the quarter. Andrew Davis answered with a three from the left elbow, off of the assist from Barrio, but Case Micheletti fired right back with a three from the left elbow to make the score, 14-8.
Davis was fouled on the floor by Duvall with 1:32 to play in the first quarter. He made one- of- two shots from the line to make the score,14-9, but Abernathy responded quickly, as Scott drained a three from the right wing off of the assist from Dre Minfield, extending their lead to, 17-9.
With just over a minute remaining in the first quarter, Barrio was fouled on the floor by Case Micheletti, his second. Barrio sank both free throws, trimming the lead to, 17-11, as the first quarter came to a close.
Case Micheletti opened the second frame with a layup, but on their next possession, Payan took a charge on Minfield, his second foul of the game. With just under six minutes to play in the half, Ronnie Kirk poked the ball away from Davis in their own end, as Case Micheletti picked it up and dropped in an easy lay-up, stretching their lead to, 2111.
Payan would bury a three from the right elbow to make the score, 21-13, as Littlefield took a time out with 3:56 to play in the half. Out of the break, Scott was fouled on an attempt by Payan, his second. Scott made one- of- two free throws and Minfield followed it up with a drive along the left baseline, drawing a shooting foul on Zach Trevino with under three minutes to play in the half. Minfield converted both shots at the line, pushing the lead to, 24-14.
With 2:33 to play in the half, Scott hit Henry Webb in transition for a lay-up, but on the other end, Davis found Chase Coronado for a lay-up, keeping it a 10point game, 26-16. Barrio followed it up with an outlet pass down court to Davis, who pulled up for a three from the left elbow, slicing the lead to, 26-19, but Kirk would answer with a put-back off of his own miss to make the score, 2819, with 1:47 to play in the half.
Case Micheletti pulled up from the free-throw line for a jumper, but the Wildcats would answer, as Barrio got the ball inside to Coronado, who knocked down a short jumper from the right side to make the score, 30-21. However, with time winding down in the half, Case Micheletti drained a three from the right elbow, making the score, 33-21, going into the locker room at halftime.
Out of the break, Case Micheletti knocked down back-to-back buckets for the Antelopes to open the second half and Scott picked up a steal from Trevino, taking it the other way for the fast-break layup, extending their lead to, 39-21. With 4:29 to play in the third quarter, Trevino dropped in a lay-up off of the inbound pass from Barrio, drawing an and-one foul on Case Micheletti, his third. Trevino missed the free throw, leaving the score, 39-23.
Case Micheletti drove the lane, kicking it inside to Webb for the lay-up, but Barrio responded with a jumper from the left elbow to make the score, 45-21, with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter. Webb was fouled on a put-back attempt by Trevino, his second. He converted both shots at the line to stretch their lead to, 43-25.
Case Micheletti knocked down a floater from the left elbow off of the assist from Minfield, but Nehemiah Beanes answered with a three from the top of the key off of the assist from Barrio, making the score, 4525, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, the teams exchanged threes and Beanes dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Barrio to close out the third quarter with the Antelopes in front, 48-33.
Case Micheletti opened the fourth quarter with a layup, drawing an and-one foul on Davis. He converted the free throw to push their lead to, 51- 33. Coronado grabbed a steal in their own end, passing it to Barrio for a lay-up to make the score, 51-35. With 6:37 left to play in the game, Minfield drove and dumped the ball off to Kirk for a lay-up and Case Micheletti followed it up with a three from the right elbow off of the assist from James Zepeda, stretching the lead to, 56-35.
Barrio knocked down a jumper in the lane, but Minfield responded with a drive through the middle for a lay-up, making the score, 58-37. With just over six minutes to play in the game, Minfield picked off a bad pass from Rodriguez and took it to the hoop for a layup, making the score, 60-37. Payan took a charge on Case Micheletti, his fourth and on the next play, Payan grabbed a steal and dished it ahead to Davis, who was fouled on a shot attempt by Webb. He made one-of-two shots at the line to make the score, 60-38.
Abernathy would close out the game on an, 11-2, scoring run over the final four minutes, taking the contest, 71-40.
Barrio led the Wildcats with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal, while Davis joined him in double-figures scoring with 10 points, to go along with two steals and one assist. Beanes chipped in eight points and two rebounds, while Coronado contributed four points, two steals and one assist.
Payan tallied three points, one rebound and one steal, while Trevino added two points, three rebounds and one assist and Rodriguez finished with two points, seven rebounds and one steal.
The Wildcats will be back in action Thursday, Dec. 4th through Saturday, Dec. 6th at the Edgewood Tournament.