The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team claimed their Class 3A Bi-district championship over the Kermit Lady Jackets on Monday, 6521, at Seagraves High School.
With the win, the Lady Cats improve to 24-6 overall on the year.
“We definitely got off to a slow start, I think the biggest thing was that we weren’t controlling the tempo,” Head Coach Teddy Duncan said. “We let Kermit dictate the tempo, and they were forcing us to play a little faster than we anticipated, especially on the offensive side. A lot of our shots were rushed shots in the half court set.”
She added, “All year long we’ve been working on allowing our defense to be our best offense, so once we settled down and were able to create some turnovers in the back court and shoot a couple of easy lay-ups, things starting rolling for us.”
Leylani Quiroz knocked down a jumper from the right side in transition to open the contest, but Amiah Elizondo answered with a transition lay-up to tie the game, 2-2. Quiroz regained the lead for Kermit with a floater in the lane, as Littlefield took a time out with 5:50 left to play in the opening quarter, and out of the break, Jasmine Castillo picked up a steal in their own end and was fouled on the shot attempt by Michaela Cazarin. She converted both free throws to tie the game, 4-4, with 5:24 to play in the quarter.
Jazmine Rosalez picked up a steal in their own end and got it to Cali Saldana for a quick lay-up and with 5:06 to play in the first quarter, Kermit took a time out to prevent a turnover. Out of the break, Ari Castillo grabbed a steal, taking it to the basket before dumping it off to Arianna Cruz for a lay-up, pushing their lead to, 8-4. Littlefield’s defense forced a five-second call on the inbound play for Kermit and they were able to capitalize on the turnover, as Marysa Saenz knocked down a three from the right wing, stretching their lead to, 11-4.
Quiroz and Cazarin dropped in back-to-back lay-ups for the Lady Jackets to cut the lead to, 11-8, but with time winding down in the quarter, Jasmine Castillo was fouled on the floor by Lara, her third. She converted both shots at the line to close out the first quarter with Littlefield in front, 13-8.
Valeria Pando was fouled on an attempt by Jasmine Castillo to open the second frame; she split the attempts at the line to cut the lead to, 13-9, but on the other end, Jasmine Castillo drew a shooting foul on Ava Hernandez, earning a trip to the line. She made one-of-two shots from the line to make it a five-point game, but Kermit would respond, as Ebbin Mallory dropped in a lay-up and Cazarin was fouled on the next play by Elizondo, earning a trip to the line. She split the free throws, slicing the lead to, 14-12. Kennadi Hanlin banked in a floater off the glass and Jasmine Castillo followed it up with a steal, dishing the ball to Cruz for a lay-up, pushing their lead back out to, 18-12, as Kermit took a time out with 4:16 to play in the first half.
Out of the break, Nevaeh Esquibel drove the right baseline for a lay-up off of an assist from Saldana and Esquibel returned the favor on the next play, pushing the outlet pass ahead to Saldana, who used a euro step to get into the paint for a lay-up, stretching their lead back out to, 22-12, with 3:15 to play in the half.
Cruz dished a pass across the lane to Saldana in transition for a lay-up, as Kermit took another time out with 2:48 to play in the half and the lead extended to, 24-12.
Out of the break, Saldana picked up a steal and knocked down a jumper from the left wing and Elizondo followed it up with a lay-up off of an assist from Saenz, making the score, 28-12.With under two minutes remaining in the half, Saenz was fouled on a put-back attempt by Hernandez, earning a trip to the line. She converted both free throws, stretching the lead to, 30-12.
On their next possession, Saldana was fouled on the floor by Iris Lujan; she made one-of-two shots from the line, pushing the lead to, 21-12, with 1:14 remaining in the first half. Esquibel dropped in a fast-break lay-up to close out the first half with Littlefield in front, 33-12.
Ari Castillo opened the second half with a lay-up off of the assist from Saenz, but with six minutes left to play in the third, Mallory dropped in a layup, drawing an and-one foul on Hanlin. She missed the free throw, leaving the score, 35-14. Jasmine Castillo heaved a long pass down court to Ari Castillo, who dropped in a lay-up drawing an and-one foul on Cazarin, her third. She missed the free throw, but the ball went out of bounds off of Kermit.
Jasmine Castillo drained a three from the left elbow off of the assist fromAri Castillo, but Cazarin answered with a three from the top of the key to make the score, 40-17. Ari Castillo drove to the basket for a lay-up and Jasmine Castillo followed it up with back-toback threes, extending their lead to, 48-17, with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter. Jasmine Castillo was fouled on the floor by Pando and made one-of-two shots from the line to close out the third quarter with Littlefield in control, 49-17.
Saenz opened the fourth quarter with a three from the left wing off of the assist from Cruz, and Littlefield took a time out with five minutes remaining. Out of the break, Jasmine Castillo drained another three from the right elbow off of an assist from Saenz and on their next possession, Elizondo was fouled on an attempt by Cazarin, who fouled out of the contest. She made one-of-two shots from the line, pushing the lead to, 56-17, with 3:34 remaining.
Hanlin converted a pair of free throws after being fouled on a fastbreak attempt by Quiroz and on the next play, Jasmine Castillo hit Saldana with the outlet pass, as she dropped in the fast-break lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Lara, who fouled out of the contest with 2:05 left to play. Saldana sank the free throw to make the score, 61-17. Mallory dropped in a lay-up to end the scoring drought for Kermit and she was fouled on their next possession by Jasmine Castillo, who picked up her fourth foul of the game. Mallory missed both free throws, but Kermit was there for the offensive rebound and put-back, trimming the lead to, 61-21.
Esquibel and Jasmine Castillo close out the contest with back-to-back steals, as Littlefield advanced to the 3A Area round of the play-offs with the 65-21, victory.
The Lady Cats were led in scoring by Jasmine Castillo, who tallied 20 points, to go along with nine rebounds, eight steals, three assists and one block and Saldana, who netted 12 points, to go along with five steals and three assists. Saenz chipped in eight points, four steals, two assists and two rebounds, while Ari Castillo tallied six points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Esquibel contributed six points, seven rebounds, five steals, one assist and one block.
Elizondo added five points, while Hanlin chipped in four points, six rebounds, five blocks, five assists and four steals, and Cruz added four points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal. Jouett added one steal, while Rosalez finished with two assists, one rebound and one steal.
The Lady Cats will face the winner of Canadian and Abernathy, who played Tuesday night. Details for the Area round match-up are TBA.
“Either way it is going to be a tough match-up, we are definitely going to have to be poised from the beginning,” Coach Duncan said. “We’re going to have to play discipline basketball on both sides of the ball. But they are two totally different teams and will be two totally different game plans and schemes. It will be a good game in the next round.”