The Littlefield Wildcat’s varsity basketball fell short in their comeback efforts on Tuesday night, as they dropped their second meeting of the season with the Slaton Tigers, 53-47.
With the win, the Wildcats fall to 16-7 overall, 5-3 in district play.
Braeshon Kennard drew a charge on Chip Green to open the contest and on the other end, Daniel Payne dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Ryan Williams. He converted the free throw to put the Tigers in front, 30. On the other end, Williams tipped a rebound to Kam McCarty, who dropped it in for a lay-up to cut the lead to, 3-2, but Slaton would respond, as Payne drew a shooting foul on Green, his second.
Payne sank both free throws, pushing their lead to, 4-2. Payne drew a charge on the next play on Jayden Barrio, and the Tigers capitalized on the turnover, as Z’Qedrian Whaley knocked down a jumper from the right wing, making the score, 6-2. With 5:04 to play in the opening quarter, Payne took a charge on Barrio, his second, however the Wildcats would regain possession, as McCarty pulled up for a jumper from the right elbow slicing the lead to, 6-4.
With 2:47 to play in the first quarter, Kennard drove the right baseline for a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Green, his third. He converted the free throw to push their lead to, 9-4. Williams was fouled by Matthew Perez on the other end, earning a trip to the line. He sank both free throws to make it a three-point game, 9-6.
Whaley was fouled on a defensive rebound by McCarty, sending him to the line for free throws. He made one-of-two from the line, but Williams answered with a three from the top of the key off of the assist from McCarty, cutting the Slaton lead to, 10-9, as the first quarter came to a close.
Whaley knocked down a jumper from the right wing to open the second frame, but McCarty answered with a three from the right elbow to tie the game, 12-12, with 6:42 to play in the half. McCarty knocked down another three from the right elbow off of the assist from Williams to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 15-12.
Whaley would answer with a jumper in the lane for Slaton, but Barrio responded with a put-back, pushing their lead to, 17-14, with 4:16 left to play in the half. With under three minutes to go in the first half, Diego Gomez was fouled on a put-back attempt by Jose Payan and made one-of-two shots from the line to make it a one-possession game, 17-15.
Kennard grabbed an offensive rebound, which led to a lay-up for Perez to tie the game, and Kennard and Jacob Lopez hit back-to-back threes to put the Tigers in front, 23-17. With time winding down in the half, McCarty was fouled on a three-point attempt by Whaley; he converted all three shots at the line to cut the lead to, 23-20, going into the locker room at halftime.
Payne opened the second half with a floater over Nate Castaneda, bu Williams answered with a putback off of a miss by Green, drawing an and-one foul on Whaley, his third. He missed the free throw, leaving the score, 25-22, in favor of the Tigers. Kennard responded with a three from the top of the key, stretching their lead to, 28-22, but on the other end, Williams was fouled on a drive to the basket by Ashton Garcia. He converted both shots at the line to make it a fourpoint game, 28-24.
Garcia knocked down a jumper from the left wing for Slaton and Kennard followed it up with a three from the top of the key, extending their lead to, 33-24. With under four minutes to play in the quarter, Williams lobbed a pass over the defense to Barrio for a lay-up, but Kennard would again answer on the other end for a layup, making the score, 35-26.
With 2:22 remaining in the third quarter, Green knocked down a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Williams, but on the other end, Kennard grabbed an offensive rebound and dropped in a lay-up to make the score, 3729. Whaley kept it going on the next play, going coast-to-coast for a lay-up, stretching the lead to double-digits, 39-29.
With just over a minute to play in the quarter, McCarty drove the middle, drawing a shooting foul on Perez his third. He sank both shots from the line, making the score, 39-31, going into the final quarter of play.
Kennard was fouled on an attempt by Barrio, his third. He sank both shots at the line, but Barrio would respond with a lay-up on the other end off of the assist from Williams to trim the lead to, 41-33. Green went coast-to-coast on the next play, drawing a shooting foul on Lopez, his fourth. He made oneof- two shots from the line to cut the lead to seven points, but Kennard responded with a lay-up for Slaton, drawing an and-one foul on Castaneda, his second. He converted the free throw to make it a 10-point game, 44-34.
McCarty drove the left side for a lay-up, as Slaton took a time out with 5:25 to play in the game. Out of the break, Barrio was fouled on a put-back attempt by Kennard, his second. Barrio made one-oftwo shots from the line, making the score, 44-37. With 4:28 remaining, Whaley drove the left side for a lay-up and Perez followed it up by taking a charge on Green, his fourth.
Littlefield would regain possession, as McCarty drove in for a lay-up to make it a seven-point game, 46-39. With 2:19 to play, Williams was fouled on an attempt by Perez, who fouled out of the game. He converted both free throws to make it a five-point game, 46-41. Slaton took a time out with 2:09 remaining, and out of the break, Green stole an inbound pass and got it to Barrio for a layup to slice the lead to three-points, 46-43, with 1:48 to play in the game.
Slaton took another time out with 1:34 to play, and out of the break, Whaley was fouled on the floor by Barrio, his fourth. Whaley sank both shots from the line, but Barrio quickly answered with a layup to make the score, 48-45. With under a minute to play, McCarty was fouled on a put-back attempt by Lopez, who fouled out of the contest. He made one-of-two shots from the line, as Littlefield took a time out with 35.1 seconds to play, trailing, 48-46.
The Wildcats quickly fouled Kennard, who sank both shots at the line to make the score, 50-46. With 19.1 seconds remaining, Barrio was fouled on the floor by Gomez; he made one-of-two shots from the line to cut the lead to three-points, but with no choice but to foul, Kennard went to the line and sank both free throws to ice the game, as Littlefield fell to Slaton, 53-47.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by McCarty, who finished with 20 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Barrio tallied 12 points, five rebounds and one assist, while Williams chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Green added four points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist.
The Wildcats were at Shallowater on Friday for their second meeting with the Mustangs. Results were not available at press time. They will continue their season on Tuesday with a home game at Muleshoe.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.