The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team survived an overtime thriller against the Olton Fillies, 51-46, in their tournament-opener at the Wildcat Classic on Tuesday.
Kennadi Hanlin grabbed a steal and was fouled on the shot attempt by Olivia Cox. She made one-of-two shots at the line to put the Lady Cats in front, 1-0. On the other end, Cox was fouled on an attempt byAmiah Elizondo; she converted both shots to put the Fillies in front, 2-1, with 6:32 remaining in the opening quarter.
Kyndal Edgemon drove to the basket for a lay-up on the left side and Madison McNeese followed it up with a steal that led to a transition lay-up, stretching their lead to, 5-2, with 5:16 to play in the first quarter. Edgemon dropped in another lay-up, this time off of an assist from Arianna Cruz, but on the next play,Analise Ramage took a charge on Hanlin, regaining possession for the Fillies with just over four minutes to play in the quarter.
Cox buried a three from the left wing for Olton, but Marysa Saenz answered with a three of her own from the right wing, off of the assist from Hanlin to make it a five-point Littlefield lead. Kylee Noack, though, would drain a three from the left elbow to close out the first quarter with Littlefield’s lead cut to, 10-8.
MaKenly Smith took a charge on Cruz to open the second frame, and Aspen Struve followed it up with a lay-up on the right side to tie the game, 10-10. Saenz forced a turnover on Olton and Edgemon followed it up with a drive to the basket for a lay-up to regain the lead for Littlefield, 12-10. However, it was short-lived, as Smith dropped in a put-back to tie the game, 12-12, as Olton took a time out with 4:12 to play in the game.
Out of the break, Hanlin went coastto- coast for a lay-up, but Cox came right back on the other end with a layup for Olton to keep the game tied, 1414, with just over one minute remaining in the half. Edgemon dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Ramage. She converted the free throws to make the score, 17-14, but Smith answered with a lay-up on the other end for Olton to cut the lead to one point, 17-16. Edgemon would drop in a lay-up to close out the first half with the Lady Cats in front, 19-16.
Smith opened up the second half with a lay-up off of the assist from Cox, but Hanlin answered with a putback to make the score, 21-18, with 5:37 to play in the contest. Smith drained a three from the top of the key for the Fillies, but Cruz fired right back with a three of her own from the right elbow to make the score, 24-21. Elizondo split a pair of free throws, but Cox, Smith and Noack knocked down back-to-back-to-back threes to put the Fillies in front, 30-25, with 2:47 to play in the third quarter. Edgemon dropped in a lay-up, drawing an andone foul on Smith. She converted the free throw to make it a one-possession game, 30-28.
Edgemon tied the game with a layup on the next play and followed it up with an outlet pass on their next possession to McNeese, who finished the fast-break with a lay-up to put the Lady Cats back on top, 32-30, with 1:12 remaining in the quarter. With under one minute to play in the third, McNeese was fouled on an attempt by Acker; she made one-of-two shots at the line and Bri Valdez followed it up with a jumper from the right elbow off of the assist from Saenz to close out the third quarter with Littlefield in front, 35-30.
Noack drained a three from the left elbow, off of the assist from Cox to o pen the final frame, but on the other end, Edgemon was fouled on a putback attempt by Ramage. She converted both free-throws to extend their lead to, 37-33. Smith dropped in a layup off of an assist from Cox, but Edgemon and Hanlin answered with back-to-back lay-ups, to push their lead to, 41-35, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Noack spun to the basket for a lay-up on the right side, but on the other end, Elizondo was fouled on an attempt by Evelyn Matute, earning a trip to the line. She sank both shots at the line to push their lead to, 43-37. With just under four minutes remaining, Ramage was fouled on an attempt by Elizondo; she split the free throws and Olton took a time out to talk about their strategy.
After a missed free throw from Jasmine Barrios, Olton took another timeout with 1:35 remaining. Out of the break, Noack picked up a steal and got it ahead to Cox for a lay-up to cut the lead to, 43-40. With under a minute to play, Ramage dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Cox to make it a one-point game, 43-42. With just under 30 seconds remaining, Barrios split a pair of free throws to make it a two-point lead for the Lady Cats, but with 15.2 seconds remaining, Olton took a time out to prevent a turnover.
Out of the break, Smith threw the ball out of bounds looking for Noack, but with 3.2 seconds to play, Smith was fouled on an attempt by McNeese. She converted both free throws to tie the game, 44-44, forcing overtime.
Hanlin took a charge on Struve to begin the overtime period, and with 2:39 remaining, Cruz was fouled on the floor by Ramage, who picked up her fifth foul and was disqualified. Cruz split the attempts at the line, and on the other end, Cox was fouled on an attempt by Saenz. She too split the attempts at the line, keeping the game tied, 45-45.
With 1:39 remaining in overtime, Edgemon was fouled on the floor by Smith; she converted both free throws, and on the defensive end, Cruz took a charge on Smith, giving possession back to the Lady Cats. Hanlin was fouled by Cox with 1:01 to play and split the free throws to make it a threepoint Littlefield lead, 48-45.
Saenz grabbed a steal from Struve with under a minute to play and Hanlin was fouled on the floor by Emma Acker. She made one-of-two shots at the line to extend the lead to, 49-46. In the closing seconds, McNeese was fouled on the floor by Cox and converted both free throws to ice the game, 51-46.
Edgemon led the Lady Cats in scoring with 22 points, while Hanlin tallied nine points and McNeese netted seven points. Cruz chipped in four points, while Saenz and Elizondo each contributed three points and Valdez added one point. Barrios finished with one point in the contest.
For the Fillies, they were led by Smith who finished with 16 points. She was joined in double-figures scoring by Cox who contributed 14 points and Noack, who finished with 11 points. Ramage added three points and Struve finished with two points in the contest.