The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team defeated the Denver City Fillies on Thursday, 48-25, in a make-up game from Tuesday’s scheduled contest.
With the win, the Lady Cats quest for perfection in district play remained intact, as they moved to 10-0 in district, 19-9 overall.
Kyndal Edgemon spun to the basket for a lay-up off of an assist from Amiah Elizondo to open the contest Thursday evening after a slow start for both teams. With 2:19 remaining in the opening quarter, Arianna Cruz picked up a steal and was fouled on the fast-break attempt by Mia Carmona. She converted one-of-two shots at the line to extend their lead to, 3-0.
With under a minute to play in the first quarter, Cruz sent an outlet pass down court to Jazmine Barrios, who finished off the play with a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Tori Rodriguez. She missed on the free throw, leaving the score, 5-0. Carmona was fouled on a shot attempt by Barrios and split the free throws to get the Fillies on the board, trailing, 5-1, as the first quarter came to a close.
Edgemon was fouled on a jumper attempt by Bella De la rosa to open the second frame; she split the attempts at the line and Kennadi Hanlin followed it up with a three off of an assist from Edgemon to extend their lead to, 9-1, with 7:15 remaining in the first half. Rodriguez dropped in a layup off of an assist from Alexis Ornelas in transition, but on the other end, Maerysa Saenz was fouled on a put-back attempt by Ornelas. She missed the first free throw, but converted the second shot to push their lead to, 10-3.
With 6:12 to play in the half, Madison McNeese was fouled on the floor by Rodriguez and converted both shots on the one-inone opportunity to stretch their lead to, 12-3. Edgemon dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Cruz, but Denver City answered, as Rodriguez buried a three from the left elbow and Sydney Roberts followed it up with a lay-up, as Littlefield took a time out with 5:04 to play in the half and their lead cut to, 14-8.
Out of the break, Carmona drove to the basket for a lay-up, but Elizondo answered with a put-back on the other end off of a miss by McNeese, to extend their lead to, Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. 16-10, with under four minutes to play in the half. McNeese followed it up with a jumper from the right elbow, as Denver City called for a time out with 3:14 to play in the half.
Out of the break, Natalie Ceniceros dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Rodriguez and with 1:12 to play in the half, Ornelas was fouled on an attempt by Cruz. She made one-of-two shots at the line, and on their next possession, Milka Leyva dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Ornelas, drawing an and-one foul on Kamryn Meiwes. She converted the free throw to make it a one-possession game, 18-16.
With 1.3 seconds remaining in the half, Saenz picked up a steal in their own end and put it up for a quick lay-up to close out the first half with the Lady Cats in front, 20-16.
Edgemon opened up the second half with a lay-up off of an assist from McNeese and Hanlin followed it up on the defensive end, taking a charge on Rodriguez with 6:48 to play in the third quarter. Edgemon tossed a pass across the middle to McNeese, who quickly got it back to Edgemon for a short jumper from the right side, extending their lead to, 24-16.
Ceniceros split two pairs of free throws, but McNeese answered with a three from the right elbow to push their lead out to, 27-18. With 3:03 remaining in the third, Ornelas dropped in a put-back off of her own miss, but Elizondo responded with a basket for Litlefield, making the score, 29-20, with 2:48 to play in the quarter. Hanlin was fouled on an attempt by Rodriguez, who picked up her fourth foul of the game. She made one-of-two shots at the line to push the lead to double-digits for the Lady Cats and on the next play, Saenz picked up a steal in the back court and dropped it in for a quick lay-up to push the lead to, 32-20.
Denver City took a time out and out of the break, Ornelas was fouled on an attempt by Danica Jouett; she split the free throws and in the closing seconds of the quarter, Barrios dropped in a layup to close out the third quarter with the Lady Cats in front, 34-21.
Hanlin scored a fast-break layup off of a steal to open the fourth quarter and Edgemon followed it up with a jump-hook from the left side to make the score, 38-21, but on the other end, Roberts was fouled on an attempt by Elizondo. She converted both shots at the line to trim the lead to, 38-23. On their next possession, Roberts was fouled again, this time by McNeese, who picked up her fourth foul. She made one-of-two free throws to trim the lead to, 3824, with 5:36 left to play.
Cruz dished a pass to Saenz, who was fouled on a shot attempt by Roberts; she sank one-of-two shots at the line and Hanlin and Cruz followed it up with back-toback fast-break lay-ups off of steals to stretch their lead back out to, 43-24, with 3:46 left to play. McNeese dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Barrios, and Saenz dropped in a put-back off of a miss by McNeese, drawing and-one foul on Serah Woosley. She converted the free throw to extend the lead to, 48-24.
Katherine Macias split a pair of free throws, as Littlefield went on to take the contest, 48-25.
The Lady Cats were led in scoring by Edgemon, who netted 11 points. Saenz and McNeese each tallied nine points, while Hanlin chipped in eight points and Barrios added four points. Cruz finished with three points in the contest.
The Lady Cats were at Brownfield on Friday to take on the Lady Cubs. Results were not available at press time. They will close out the regular season on Tuesday with a home game against Dimmitt.