The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team saw their season come to an end on Friday night, as they fell to the Canadian Lady Cats, 46-32, in the Class 3A Area round of the play- offs at Canyon High School.
With the loss, the Lady Cats finish the season with a mark of 24-7 overall, 12-0 in district play.
Arianna Cruz took a charge on Cazz Waite to open the game and on the offensive end, Kennadi Hanlin dropped in a lay- up off of an assist from Audi Castillo to put Littlefield in front, 2- 0. Waite responded with a lay- up for Canadian to tie the game, but Cruz quickly answered with a three from the left wing, off an assist from Jasmine Castillo, putting Littlefield back in front, 5- 2, with 4: 06 to play in the opening quarter.
Hanlin took a charge on Kylie Cavalier, but Littlefield couldn’t capitalize and with 1:11 remaining in the first quarter, Waite drove the right baseline for a lay- up to cut the Littlefield lead to one point, 54. Jasmine Castillo answered with a lay-up for Littlefield and Cruz followed it up by taking a charge on the defensive end on Delaney Huntress. With time winding down in the quarter, Hanlin was fouled on an attempt by Reiss Adams. She made one- of- two shots from the line to close out the first quarter with Littlefield in front, 8-4.
Chanlee Adcock opened the second frame with a three from the left elbow and followed it up with a put-back, drawing an and-one foul on Littlefield. She missed the free throw, as Canadian regained the lead, 9- 8, with 5: 55 to play in the half. On the next play, Elyse Beck was fouled on an attempt by Audi Castillo and made oneof- two shots from the line, pushing the lead to, 10- 8.
Littlefield took a 30- second time out with 5: 21 to play in the half, and out of the break, Jasmine Castillo drove the lane, dumping the ball off to Amiah Elizondo, who finished the play with a lay-up to tie the game, 10-10. Adcock quickly answered with a three from the right wing to regain the lead for Canadian and Adams followed it up on defense, taking a charge on Jasmine Castillo with 3: 24 to play in the half.
Littlefield would regain possession, as Jasmine Castillo dropped in a put- back off of a miss by Cali Saldana, cutting Canadian’s lead to one point, 13- 12. Cavalier dropped in a lay- up for Canadian, but Cruz drained a three from the left elbow on the other end, off an assist from Hanlin to tie the game, 15- 15. However, in the closing seconds of the half, Cavalier dropped in a put-back to put them up, 17- 15, going into the locker room at halftime.
Waite opened the third quarter with a short jumper from the right side and Samantha Krehbiel followed it up with a three from the right wing, stretching their lead to, 22- 15, with 6: 18 to go in the third quarter. Jasmine Castillo knocked down a three from the left elbow to get Littlefield on the board in the second half, but on the other end, Adams was fouled on an attempt by Hanlin, earning a trip to the line. She sank both free throws to push their lead to, 24- 18.
Waite nailed a three from the elbow and Huntress grabbed a steal on their own end for an easy lay- up, extending their lead to, 29-18, with 3:12 to play in the third. Audi Castillo grabbed an offensive rebound and got it to Jasmine Castillo, who was fouled on the jumper attempt by Cavalier. She split the attempts at the line, trimming the lead to, 29- 19, as Littlefield took a 30- second time out with 2: 36 left to play in the third quarter.
Out of the break, Huntress dropped ina lay- up off of the inbound pass from Cavalier under their own basket and Cavalier was fouled on the following play by Jasmine Castillo. She sank both shots at the line, giving Canadian their largest lead of the game, 33-19. Marysa Saenz answered with a three from the right wing off of an assist from Hanlin to end the scoring drought for Littlefield and with under a minute to go in the quarter, Hanlin drew a shooting foul on Adcock. Hanlin sank both attempts from the line to cut the lead back to single digits, 3324.
But with time winding down in the quarter, Cavalier was fouled on an attempt and split the free throws to make it a 10point game, 34- 24, going into the final quarter of play.
Audi Castillo opened the fourth quarter with a lay- up, but Cavalier went coast- tocoast on the next play, finishing with a lay-up for Canadian, as Littlefield took a full time out with 4: 01 to play in the game. With under two minutes to play, Krehbiel was fouled on an attempt by Audi Castillo and made one- of- two shots from the line, making the score, 37-26.
Canadian took a time out to prevent a turnover with 1: 31 remaining, and out of the break, Cruz buried a three from the left elbow off of an assist from Hanlin, trimming the lead to, 37- 29. Littlefield called a quick time out to preserve the clock with 55.4 seconds to play. But when play resumed, Krehbiel was fouled on the floor by Littlefield; she made both shots from the line, making it a 10-point game, 39-29.
Krehbiel would sink another pair of free throws after being fouled by Hanlin, but Cruz would answer with a three from the elbow off of the assist from Hanlin with 28 seconds to go, trailing Canadian, 41-32. Littlefield took a 30- second time out with 27.3 seconds to play , but Cavalier and Krehbiel would both sink a pair of free throws and Beck split a pair to close out the game, as Littlefield fell to Canadian, 4632.
Cruz led the team in scoring with 12 points, while Jasmine Castillo tallied eight points and Hanlin finished with five points. Saenz chipped in three points, while Audi Castillo and Elizondo each finished with two points in the contest.