The Springlake-Earth Lady Wolverines’ varsity basketball team overcame a slow start to bounce the Silverton Lady Owls on Friday, 61-44, at Canyon High School to claim the 1A Area Championship.
With the win, he Lady Wolverines improve to 23-7 overall on the year.
Silverton opened the game on a, 5-0, scoring run, before Sayler Beerwinkle was fouled on an attempt, earning a trip to the line. She made one-of-two shots to get the Lady Wolverines on the board, still trailing, 5-1, with 5:21 remaining in the opening quarter. Springlake-Earth took a time out with 4:50 left to play in the quarter, and out of the break, Halee Toscano hit back-to-back threes from the right side to put the Lady Wolver ines in front, 7-5.
With 2:55 left to play in the quarter, Kaitlyn Gamble was fouled on an attempt by Toscano and sank both free throws to tie the game, 7-7. But it was short-lived, as Emma Samaron knocked down a short jumper from the right elbow, off of an assist from Toscano to put them back in front, 9-7. With just over one minute remaining in the first quarter, Toscano lobbed a pass over the defense to Beerwinkle, who finished the play with a lay-up to extend their lead to, 11-7.
Taytum Goodman drained a three off of an assist from Toscano, and with time winding down in the quarter, Goodman buried another three from the right elbow, off of the assist from Beerwinkle, stretching their lead to, 17-7, as the first quarter came to a close.
Brenna Francis opened the second quarter with a pull-up jumper from the right elbow, but Samaron took a charge on Francis on the next play, however the Lady Wolverines were unable to capitalize on the turnover, as BreAnna Gore was fouled on an attempt by Beerwinkle. She converted both free throws, as Silverton took a time out with 5:46 remaining in the first half.
Out of the break, Toscano dropped in a lay-up on the left side and followed it up with a jumper from the right wing, off of an assist from Beerwinkle, pushing their lead to, 21-11. Goodman was fouled on their next possession and split the free throws to push the lead to, 22-11,with 4:24 remaining in the half.
With just over four minutes left to play in the half, Kallie Gore was fouled on the floor by Samaron, earning a one-in-one opportunity at the line. She sank both free throws to cut the lead to single-digits, 22-13, but Toscano answered with a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Goodman and Samaron followed it up with a layup on the right side, stretching their lead back out to, 27-13.
Gamble was fouled on the floor and sank both free throws, but Toscano went coast-to-coast for a lay-up for the Lady Wolverines and with just over one minute to play in the half, Samaron dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Goodman, making the score, 31-15. Silverton dropped in a bucket in the lane, but with time winding down, Goodman pulled up and drained a deep three from the top of the key to make the score, 34-17, going into the locker room at halftime.
Beerwinkle picked up a steal in their own end and dropped it in for a layup, drawing an and-one foul on Francis to open the second half. She converted the free throw, making the score, 37-17. The Springlake-Earth defense forced a five-second call on Kaitlyn Gamble, who couldn’t get the ball in bounds and Samaron followed it up with a put-back off of a miss by Beerwinkle to extend their lead to, 39-17.
Beerwinkle scored on a fast-break, drawing an and-one foul on Kaitlyn Gamble. She converted the free throw to make the score, 42-17, with 5:37 remaining in the third quarter. Toscano buried a three from the top of the key, off of the inbound pass from Goodman, but on the other end, Kallie Gore was fouled on an attempt by Toscano. She split the free throws and Sara Casner followed it up with a layup, trimming the lead to, 45-20, with just over one minute to play in the quarter.
Beerwinkle dropped in a lay-up for Springlake-Earth, but BreAnna Gore closed out the third quarter with a putback to make the score, 47-22, going into the final quarter of play.
Kaitlyn Gamble scored the opening bucket of the fourth quarter, but Goodman answered, hitting Sydney Furr with an outlet pass for a fastbreak lay-up to push their lead out to, 49-24. Madison Gamble split a pair of free throws for Silverton, but on the other end, Goodman, split a pair of free throws and Jasmine Garcia followed it up with a three from the left elbow, off of the assist from Beerwinkle, making the score, 53-26, with 5:45 left to play in the game.
BreAnna Gore was fouled on the floor by DD Delgado and split the one-in-one opportunity, but Beerwinkle answered with a back-door pass to Goodman for a lay-up to stretch their lead to, 55-27. Casner converted a pair of free throws, as Silverton took a time out with 4:38 remaining in the game. Out of the break, Francis dropped in a lay-up on the left side and with 3:44 remaining, BreAnna Gore dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Toscano. She converted the free throw to cut the lead to, 55-34.
Kallie Gore split a pair of free throws and BreAnna Gore followed it up with a lay-up, before Kilee Lynn buried a three from the top of the key, off of the assist from Kallie Gore, making the score, 55-40, with 1:28 remaining in the contest. Toscano dropped in a floater from the right elbow, but on the other end, Casner was fouled on an attempt by Beerwinkle and converted the free throws to make the score, 57-42. With under one minute to play in the game, Garcia converted a pair of free throws, but Silverton an swered with a bucket to make the score, 59-44.
Samaron would drop in a lay-up at the buzzer to close out the game with the Lady Wolverines taking the contest, 61-44.
Toscano led the team in scoring with 20 points, while Goodman tallied 13 points, Beerwinkle notched 11 points and Samaron finished with 10 points. Garcia added five points and Furr finished with two points in the contest.
The Lady Wolverines played Nazareth at West Texas A&M University on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time.