The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team fell to Idalou on Tuesday, 56-34, in their regular season finale at Wildcat Gym.
With the loss, the Lady Cats head into the play-offs with a mark of 21-12, 10-6 in district play.
Megan Hall opened the game with a three from the left wing for Idalou, but on the other end, Zalise Davis hit Nia Cleveland for a layup to trim the lead to, 3-2, with 6:48 to play in the opening quarter. Idalou answered with a lay-up, but as Littlefield came back down the floor on offense, Amoni Jefferson was fouled on an attempt by Paytonn Spann. She converted both shots at the line to make it a one- point game, 5-4.
With under a minute to go in the quarter, Bricelyn Patschke was fouled on an attempt by Davis. She missed both free throws, but Idalou got the offensive rebound, as Karsyn Lutrick buried a three from the right wing to stretch their lead to, 8-4. At the end of the quarter, Davis was given a technical foul, giving her her second foul of the game. Lutrick split the attempts at the line, making the score, 9-4, going into quarter number two.
Patschke grabbed an offensive rebound to begin the second frame, as she found Lutrick for a lay-up and Idalou followed it up with a three from the left wing by Spann, off of the assist from Preslie Wall, pushing their lead to, 14-4. With 6:12 remaining in the first half, Cobi Saldana banked in a three from the top of the key, off of the assist from Madison Williams, but Lutrick answered with a three from the left elbow, extending their lead to, 177.
With under five minutes to play in the half, Spann was fouled on an attempt by Cleveland, her second of the game. She converted both shots at the line, stretching the lead to, 19-7. Jefferson answered with a pull-up jumper in the lane, but on their next possession, Taylor Dennis took a charge on Davis, her third of the game.
Idalou took over on offense, as Spann drained a three from the right wing, off of the assist from Natalie Stark, and on the defensive end, Dennis took another charge on Davis, giving her her fourth of the game, with 3:01 to play in the half.
Dennis dropped in a layup off of an assist from Wall, and on the other end, Cleveland was called for three-seconds in the lane, turning the ball back over to Idalou, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over with 1:57 remaining in the half. Out of the break, Dennis was fouled on an attempt by Cleveland, her third. She converted both free throws to make the score, 26-9.
Idalou would score backto- back lay-ups to close out the first half, leading Littlefield, 30-9.
The second half got off to a slow start, as Hall dropped in a lay-up before they took a time out to talk things over, leading, 32-9. Out of the break, Cleveland was called for an illegal screen, sending her to the bench with her fourth foul of the game, with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Hall dropped in a lay-up and Patschke was fouled on a put-back attempt by Jasmine Almance. She missed both free throws, but Idalou was able to gather the offensive rebound, which led to a lay-up for Hall, pushing their lead to, 36-9, with three minutes to play in the third.
Jefferson was fouled on an attempt by Hall, her third foul of the game. She split the attempts at the line, and on the other end, Payton Ables was fouled on an attempt by Abby Rodriguez, her second foul of the game. Ables made one-of-two shots at the line, pushing their lead to, 37-10, with 2:12 to play in the quarter.
Idalou would close out the third quarter on a, 7-2, scoring run, taking a, 44-12, lead into the lockeroom at halftime.
With 6:56 to play in the game, Williams was fouled on a put-back attempt by Patschke, her second of the game. Williams made oneof- two shots from the line, but she followed it up with a lay-up and Saldana kept it going, picking up a steal that led to a fast-break layup, trimming the lead to, 4417, with 5:30 to play.
Cleveland was fouled on a put- back attempt by Spann, her third foul of the game. She made the first shot and misse the second, but Jefferson was there for the offensive rebound, drawing a shooting foul on Hall, her fourth foul of the contest. Jefferson converted both free throws, trimming the lead to, 44-20.
With 4:38 to play, Wall knocked down a jumper from the elbow, but on Idalou’s next possession, Patschke was called for an illegal screen, turning the ball over to Littlefield. Davis would drive the left side for a lay-up, but Brylee Heflin answered with a layup on the left side for Idalou, making the score, 48-22, with 3:33 to play.
Jefferson responded with a floater from the right side, but Avery Hargrove answered with a three from the right wing to make the score, 51-24. Jefferson responded again with a layup and Idalou took a time out with 2:28 to play. Out of the rbeak, Heflin was fouled on the floor by Jefferson, her fourth foul of the game. She split the free throws, pushing the lead to, 52-26, but Jefferson answered with a three from the right elbow, cutting the lead to, 52-29.
With 1: 39 remaining, Heflin dropped in a lay-up for Idalou and Hadley Underwood followed it up with a lay-up off of an assist from Ables, making the score, 56-29. With under a minute to play, Jefferson converted a pair of free throws and Saldana closed out the game with a three from the top of the key, off of the assist from Davis, stretching the lead to, 5634.
Jefferson led the Lady Cats with 16 points, while Saldana chipped in eight points and Williams finished with five points. Cleveland added three points and Davis finished with two points in the contest.
The Lady Cats will take on Bushland on Tuesday at Dimmitt High School in the Class 3A- DI Bi- district round of the play-offs.
Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.