The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team had their season end in heart-breaking fashion on Monday night in Canyon, as they fell to the 3A #16 Dalhart Lady Wolves, 44-43, in the Class 3A Bidistrict round of the play-offs.
With the loss, the Lady Cats finish the season with a mark of 20-13 on the year.
Kammi Maddox took a charge on Amoni Jefferson to open the contest, but after regaining possession, Ari Castillo drove the left side for a lay-up to put the Lady Cats in front, 2-0. The lead was short-lived, as Maddox answered with a layup for Dalhart to tie the game, 2-2. After a pair of missed free throws by Cali Saldana, Maddox dropped in a lay-up on the left side off of the assist from Joie Read, putting the Lady Wolves in front, 4-2.
Littlefield took a time out with 3:38 left to play in the opening quarter, and out of the break, Castillo dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Nevaeh Esquibel to tie the game, 4-4, and on their next possession, Cali Saldana picked up a steal and was fouled on the fast-break by Emily Gaines, earning a trip to the line. She converted both attempts at the line to regain the lead for Littlefield, making the score, 6-4.
With 2:13 to play in the first quarter, Arianna Chacon drove the right baseline for a lay-up, but Jefferson answered on the other end with a drive and dump to Nia Cleveland for a lay-up, making the score, 8-6. Maddox would answer with back-to-back buckets for Dalhart, but Cali Saldana responded with a three from the right elbow to give Littlefield a one- point advantage, 11- 10. Maddox, though, would drop in a lay-up in transition to regain the lead, 12-11, as the first quarter came to a close.
Maddox opened the second quarter with a lay-up, but on the other end, Madison Williams grabbed an offensive rebound and got it to Castillo, who dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on the Lady Wolves. She missed the free throw, leaving the score, 14-13, in favor of Dalhart. With 6:12 to play in the half, Gaines dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Chacon, but on the other end, Jefferson was fouled on an attempt by Maddox. She converted both free throws to trim the lead to one point, 16-15.
Jefferson and Cali Saldana applied a trap in the corner of the court to force a bad pass that was intercepted by Castillo for an easy lay-up to put the Lady Cats back in front, 17-16, with 5:43 to play in the half. Dalhart took a time out, and out of the break, Cali Saldana drained a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Castillo, stretching their lead to four points, 20-16.
Read answered with a lay-up, drawing an and- one foul on Esquibel; she converted the free throw to make it a one-point game, 20-19, and Maddox followed it up with a three from the top of the key, putting the Lady Wolves back on top, 22-20. With just under three minutes remaining in the half, Jefferson answered with a jumper from the left wing off of the a screen from Cleveland to tie the game, 22-22.
Maddox hit Read with a pass in transition for a lay-up, but after a Littlefield time out, Cali Saldana buried a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Williams, putting them back in front, 25-24. Cali Saldana would follow it up with another three from the right elbow, but on the other end, Maddox was fouled on an attempt by Cleveland. She made one-oftwo shots at the line to make it a three-point game, but with time winding down in the half, Jefferson drove the lane and dumped it off to Cleveland for a lay-up to close out the first half with Littlefield in front, 30-25.
Esquibel backed down a defender in the lane for a lay-up to open the third quarter, but on the other end, Gaines was fouled on an attempt by Williams. She made one-of-two shots from the line, trimming the lead to, 32-26. Read followed it up with a lay-up on the right side to make it a four-point game, but on the other end, Cali Saldana was fouled on an attempt by Evelyn Quiroz. She made oneof- two shots from the line, stretching the lead to, 33-28.
With 3:44 remaining in the third quarter, Quiroz was fouled on a three- point attempt by Cobi Saldana and she made one-ofthree shots from the line to cut the lead to four points, 33-29. On their next possession, Maddox was fouled in transition by Cleveland; she made one-of-two shots from the free-throw line and she followed it up with a lay-up to close out the third quarter with the Lady Cat lead cut to just one point, 3332.
Maddox took a charge on Jefferson to open the fourth quarter and Gaines followed it up with a three from the left elbow to reclaim the lead for Dalhart, 35-33, with 6:19 left to play. With just under six minutes to play, Read was called for an offensive foul, as Littlefield took a time out with 5:32 remaining in the contest. Out of the break, Esquibel drove the right side for a lay-up to tie the game, and Cali Saldana grabbed a steal and took it to the hoop for a fast-break lay-up to put the Lady Cats back in front, 37-35.
Dalhart turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, before taking a time out with 4:30 left to play. Out of the break, Gaines was fouled on a put-back attempt by Castillo. She converted both shots at the line to tie the game, but Jefferson answered with a layup on the right side, putting Littlefield in front, 39-37, with 3:48 to play.
With 2:42 remaining, Dalhart scored a quick bucket off of a turnover by Esquibel to tie the game, 39-39. They would take a time out with 1:51 to play, and out of the break, Cali Saldana picked up a steal on the inbound play, taking it the other way for a fast-break lay-up to put Littlefield in front, 41-39. Gaines answered with a three from the right side to take a one-point lead, 42-41, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Jefferson dropped in a floater on the right side to give the Lady Cats a onepoint lead, 43-42. Littlefield took a time out with 52 seconds to play, and out of the break, Castillo delivered a block on Maddox, as the Lady Cats picked up the loose ball. After a time out with 33 seconds to play, Dalhart forced a jump ball to give them possession with 18 seconds to play.
Esquibel delivered a block under the basket, but the ball bounced out to a wide- open Maddox, who knocked down a jumper on the wing to put the Lady Wolves on top, 44-43, with three seconds remaining. Littlefield took a time out to set up one last play, but Esquibel’s inbound pass was stolen by Dalhart, as the Lady Cats lost a heartbreaker, 44-43.
Cali Saldana led the team in scoring with 19 points, while Castillo and Jefferson each tallied eight points and Esquibel and Cleveland each finished with four points.