The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team won their season- opener on the road at Estacado on Saturday, 47-43, over the Lady Matadors.
With the win, the Lady Cats are 1-0 overall on the season.
Tiona Duvall was fouled on an attempt by Kennadi Hanlin with just over seven minutes left to play in the opening quarter. She made one-of-two shots at the line to put the Lady Matadors in front, 1-0, but the Lady Cats answered on the offensive end, as Marysa Saenz buried a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Danica Jouett, making the score, 3-1, with 6:48 to play in the quarter.
Ukiah Upshaw knocked down a jumper from the left wing to tie the game, but Littlefield answered right back, as Arianna Cruz, drained a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Jazmine Rosalez, putting the Lady Cats back in front, 6-3, with 5:27 to play in the first quarter. Cruz followed it up with a floater in the lane and then on the defensive end, she took a charge on Trya McCline, to regain possession for the Lady Cats with 3:24 to play in the quarter.
With just over three minutes remaining in the quarter, Cali Saldana sank a three from the left wing, off of the assist from Rosalez, stretching their lead to, 11-3, but on the other end, Narriah Gomez was fouled, earning a trip to the freethrow line. She made the first shot and missed the second, but McCline grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on the putback to trim the lead to, 11-6, as Estacado took a time out with 2:35 to play in the quarter.
Out of the break, Ari Castillo was fouled on the floor by A’lireyia Mitchell, earning a trip to the line. She converted both free throws to push their lead back out to, 136. With 2:10 remaining in the quarter, Mitchell dropped in a lay-up on the right side for Estacado, and on their next possession, she was fouled on an attempt by Cruz. She converted one-of-two shots at the line to make it a four- point Littlefield lead, 13-9.
Saenz drew a foul on the floor and sank both shots at the freethrow line and on their next possession, Hanlin was fouled on the floor by T’ayra Fountain; she split the free throws, pushing their lead to, 16-9, with under a minute to go in the first.
Cruz was fouled on an attempt by Jariah Murray and sank both free throws to push the lead to, 18-9, as the first quarter came to a close.
Castillo dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Saenz to open the second frame, but Estacado answered with a basket from Mitchell to cut the lead to, 20-11. With just over six minutes to play in the half, Upshaw dropped in a lay- up off of the assist from Mitchell in transition, cutting the lead to, 20-13.
Cruz knocked down a free-throw line jumper off of the assist from Rosalez and on their next possession, Hanlin was fouled on a shot attempt by the Lady Matadors, earning a trip to the line. She converted both shots at the line to push their lead back out to doubledigits, 24-13. After a steal by Duvall, Estacado took a time out with 4:50 remaining in the second quarter. Out of the break, Duvall dropped in a fast-break bucket, drawing an and- one foul on Danica Jouett. She missed the free throw, but Duvall grabbed the offensive rebound, as the Lady Matadors reset their offense.
Kayden Sherman cut to the basket and dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from McCline, but Rosalez answered with a three from the left elbow, pushing their lead out to, 27-19. However, in the closing seconds of the half, Mitchell knocked down a jumper from the left elbow to cut the lead to, 27-21, going into the locker room at halftime.
McCline opened the second half with a lay-up for Estacado and Murray followed it up with a runner from the right side to make it a one- possession lead for Littlefield, 27-25, but Cruz responded with a put-back off of her own miss, making the score, 2925, with 4:45 to play in the third quarter. Murray buried a three from the top of the key to make it a onepoint game, and on the defensive end, Gomez took a charge on Amiah Elizondo to regain possession for Estacado with 2:55 to play in the quarter.
Saenz was fouled on a shot attempt by Mitchell and she split the free throws to make it a one-possession game, 30-28, with 2:24 to play in the quarter. With 1:41 to play in the quarter, Cruz was fouled on the floor by Fountain and she converted both shots at the line to stretch their lead to, 32-28.
With under a minute remaining in the quarter, Hanlin drained a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Cruz and on the defensive end, Saenz took a charge on Gomez with 24 seconds to play in the third. Estacado, though, would regain possession, as Duvall nailed a three from the right wing to bring them within four points of the lead, 35-31. But, with time winding down in the quarter, Saldana banked in a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Jouett, making the score, 38-31, going into the final quarter of play. Murray opened the fourth quarter with a jumper from the left elbow and Gomez followed it up with a put-back off of a miss by Murray cutting the lead to, 38-35, with just over six minutes to play in the game. Cruz knocked down a three from the right elbow and on their following possession, Elizondo was fouled on an attempt earning a trip to the free-throw line. She sank both free throws to push their lead to, 43-35.
Murray answered with a three from the right wing for Estacado and on their next possession, McCline was fouled on the floor by Saenz; she sank both shots at the line to make it a three-point Littlefield lead, 43-40. Littlefield took a time out with 2:27 to play in the game. After play resumed, Estacado took a time out with 1:24 remaining. Out of the break, Gomez was fouled on a three-point attempt by Jouett and sank all three shots at the line to tie the game, 43-43, with just over a minute remaining.
Castillo was fouled on the floor by Duvall earning a trip to the line; she missed the first shot, but made the second to give Littlefield a onepoint advantage, 44-43. With 28 seconds remaining, Cruz was fouled on an attempt by Sherman. She also split the free throws to make it a one-possession game, 45-43.
Estacado took a time out with 23 seconds to play, and out of the break, Castillo was fouled on a defensive rebound by McCline, who fouled out of the contest, as Castillo went to the line for a pair of free throws. She would sink both shots to ice the game, as Littlefield took the contest, 47-43, on the road.
Cruz led the team in scoring with 19 points, while Saenz, Hanlin and Saldana each contributed six points and Castillo tallied five points. Rosalez chipped in three points and Elizondo finished with two points.
The Lady Cats hosted Hale Center on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time. They will be at Levelland on Saturday as their season continues.
Tip-off is slated for 12:15 p.m.