The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity basketball team suffered a heart-breaking defeat in overtime on Friday, as they fell to the Denver City Mustangs, 52-48.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 8- 16 overall, 2-5 in district play.
Jordan Trevino picked up a steal and got it ahead to Omar Martinez in transition, who finished the play with a lay-up to put the Wildcats in front, 2-0. Tyrell Norman followed it up with a jumper from the right wing, off of an assist from Chip Green, making the score, 4-0, with 5:45 remaining in the opening quarter.
Spencer Freeman banked in a jumper in the lane to get the Mustangs on the board and Erik Escobar followed it up with a jump hook in the lane to tie the game, 4-4. With 3:43 remaining in the first quarter, Green answered with a three from the top of the key, off of the assist from MJ Randle, but Aiden Wells responded with a lay-up to make it a one-point Littlefield lead, 7-6.
Daniel Ciniceros took a charge on Norman and Freeman knocked down back-to-back buckets for Denver City to give the Mustangs their first lead of the game, 10-7. With 1:27 remaining in the quarter, Randle buried a three from the left elbow, off of the assist from Jeremiah Trevino to tie the game, 10-10, as the first quarter came to a close.
Ty’Jae Chambers dropped in a putback off of a miss by Martinez to put the Wildcats in front, 12-10, to open the second quarter and Green took a charge on Escobar with 5:10 left to play in the first half. The Wildcats were unable to capitalize, as Freeman picked up a steal and took it the other way for a fast-break slam dunk to tie the game, 12-12.
Ricky Montes followed it up with a jumper from the right elbow, but Green and Jordan Trevino knocked down back-to-back threes to regain the lead for the Wildcats and on their next possession, Randle tossed the outlet pass down court to Jordan Trevino, who was fouled on an attempt by Wells. He converted both free throws to make the score, 20-14, with 3:01 remaining in the half.
With 2:33 remaining in the second quarter, Jordan Trevino was fouled on a three-point attempt by Anthony Anderson. He made one-of-three shots at the line to stretch the Littlefield lead to seven points, 21-14. Ceniceros dropped in a lay-up for the Mustangs, but Ryan West took a charge on Ceniceros to give the Wildcats an extra possession. This time they were able to capitalize, as Green buried a three from the right elbow, off of the assist from Jordan Trevino to make the score, 24-16, going into the locker room at halftime.
Wells hit Freeman in transition for a lay-up to open the second half and Wells followed it up with a pass to Escobar on a cut to the basket for a lay-up, trimming the lead to, 24-20, as Littlefield took a time out with 7:02 remaining in the third quarter. Out of the break, Martinez dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Norman, but on the other end, Ceniceros was fouled on an attempt by Jaron Cabello. He made one-of-two shots at the line, making it a five-point Littlefield lead, 26-21.
Green grabbed a defensive rebound and got it out to Norman on the break, who finished the play with a lay-up, stretching the lead out to, 28-21. Ceniceros dropped in a put-back off of his own miss and Montes followed it up with a three from the right elbow to make it a one-possession game, 28- 26, with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.
Green drained a three from the top of the key, but Anderson answered with a jumper from the left wing to make the score, 31-28. With just over one minute remaining in the quarter, Montes drained a three from the left wing off of an inbound play and Kai Madison followed it up with a putback to close out the quarter, with the Mustangs out in front, 33-31.
Jordan Trevino knocked down a jumper from the right elbow to tie the game, 33-33, but Escobar and Anderson answered with back-to-back layups, pushing the Denver City lead to, 37-33. Green knocked down a three from the left wing, off of the assist from Norman to cut the lead to one point, 37-36, but on the other end, Escobar was fouled on an attempt by Norman, earning a trip to the freethrow line. He made one-of-two shots at the line to make it a two-point game, 38-36.
With 3:39 remaining in the game, Green knocked down a three from the top of the key, off of the assist from Elijah Salazar to regain the lead, 39-38, and on their next possession, Chambers was fouled on a put-back attempt by Madison. He converted both free throws to extend the Littlefield lead to, 41-38.
Ceniceros was fouled on a putback attempt by Salazar. He made the first shot and missed the second attempt, but a lane violation on Norman, gave him a third attempt, which he converted to trim the lead to, 41-40. Denver City took a time out with 3:11 left to play, and out of the break, Montes knocked down a three from the right elbow to put the Mustangs in front, 43-41. But it was short-lived, as Norman picked up a steal and drove the lane, dumped the ball off to Jordan Trevino for a lay-up to tie the game, 43-43, with 2:28 remaining in the game.
Anderson pulled up for a short jumper off of the glass to give the Mustangs a two-point advantage, but with 11.8 seconds remaining, Chambers was fouled on a put-back attempt by Montes. He made the first shot, as Denver City took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Chambers converted the second shot to tie the game, 45-45. The score would stand as the Wildcats forced overtime.
In the extra period, Chambers was fouled on a put-back attempt off of his own miss by Ceniceros. He split the attempts to give Littlefield a onepoint advantage, but Escobar knocked down a jumper in the lane to regain the lead, 47-46. With 2:26 left to play in overtime, Chambers dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Green, but Escobar answered with another lay-up to make the score, 49-48, as The Wildcats took a time out with 1:39 remaining.
Out of the break, Freeman dropped in a floater on the left side to make it a three-point game and with 17.3 seconds remaining, Anderson was fouled on the floor by Randle, earning a onein-one opportunity at the line. He split the attempts, as Littlefield fell short in their first meeting with the Mustangs, 52-48.
Green led the team in scoring with 18 points, and he was joined in doublefigures scoring by Jordan Trevino, who netted 10 points. Chambers tallied nine points, while Martinez and Norman contributed four points each and Randle finished with three points.
The Wildcats hosted Friona on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time. They will continue their season on Friday when they go on the road to take on Brownfield.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.