The Littlefield Wildcats dropped a heart-breaker to the Farwell Steers, 48- 47, in the Farwell Tournament Championship on Saturday.
With the loss, the Wildcats finished tournament play, 2-1, moving to 5-6 overall on the season.
A Nunez opened up the game for Farwell with a lay-up in the lane, but with 5:59 remaining in the opening quarter, Omar Martinez drew a shooting foul on Vasquez. He converted both free throws to tie the game, 2-2. Williams answered with a lay-up for the Steers, but Chip Green and Martinez took back-to-back charges on Williams and Stancell to regain possession for the Wildcats with 4:06 left to play in the opening quarter.
Martinez was fouled on a putback attempt by McElroy and split the free throws to trim the lead to, 4-3. A Nunez scored back- to- back buckets for Farwell, pushing their lead to, 83, and after a pair of missed free throws by MJ Randle, McElroy buried a three from the top of the key and Actkinson followed it up with a put-back to stretch the lead to, 13-3, with 1:28 to play in the quarter.
Elijah Salazar, though, would close out the quarter with backto- back buckets for Littlefield to cut the lead to, 13-7, as the first quarter came to a close.
Carrillo was fouled on a jumper attempt by Martinez, earning a trip to the line. He split the free throws and Stancell followed it up with a lay-up off of the steal by McElroy, stretching the lead to, 16-7, as Littlefield took a time out with 7:26 to play in the first half.
Out of the break, Jeremiah Trevino dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Zeke Saenz, drawing an and- one foul on Actkinson. He converted the free throw to make it a six-point game, 16-10. With 7:08 to play in the half, McElroy sank a three from the right wing, but Ryan Williams answered with a floater from the left elbow to trim the lead to, 19-12.
Saenz took a charge on McElroy to regain possession for the Wildcats, and they were able to capitalize, as Trevino dropped in a finger-roll lay-up from the left side to make it a five- point game, 19- 14, as Farwell took a time out with 5:46 remaining in the half. Out of the break, Salazar knocked down a pull-up jumper from the top of the key, but Farwell quickly answered, as Stancell dropped in a lay-up to make the score, 21-16.
Saenz kicked the ball out to Randle for a three from the left elbow to make it a one-possession game, but on the next play, Stancell drew a blocking foul on Green. He converted one-of-two shots at the line to extend their lead to, 22-19. Vazquez took a charge on Trevino, but after regaining possession, Saenz launched the outlet pass down court to Trevino, who drew a blocking foul on Carrillo, earning a trip to the line. He converted both free throws to make it a one-point game, and Randle followed it up with a three from the right wing to give Littlefield a one-point advantage, 23-22, with 1:06 to play in the half.
With under one minute to play in the half, Actkinson drove the right side for a lay-up, but in the closing seconds of the half, Salazar dropped in a floater in the lane to give Littlefield a onepoint lead, 25-24, going into the locker room at halftime.
Vazquez dropped in a put-back for Farwell to open the second half and with 5:57 remaining in the quarter, Stancell drew a blocking foul on Saenz. He split the free throws, stretching their lead to, 27-25. Green answered with a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Salazar, but Farwell responded with a three of their own, as Stancell knocked one down from the right wing to keep the Steers in front, 30-28.
With 3:42 remaining in the quarter, Salazar buried a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Jeremiah Salazar, but Farwell again answered, as Stancell dropped in a lay-up off of the inbound pass from A. Nunez under the basket, making the score, 32-31. With just under two minutes to play in the third, Ja’Den Williams dropped in a lay-up off of the dump from Trevino to put the Wildcats back in front, 34- 32. Salazar was fouled on their next possession by McElroy, earning a trip to the line. He split the free throw attempts to make it a one-possession lead for the Wildcats, but at the buzzer, Stancell dropped in a lay-up off of a steal to tie the game, 34-34, going into the final quarter of play.
Stancell opened the final frame with a put-back off of the miss by Carrillo, but Randle answered with a three from the left wing to put the Wildcats back in front, 37-36, however, it was shortlived, as Farwell responded with a three from the right wing, to make the score39-37, with 6:29 left to play in the game. Littlefield took back-to-back time outs and out of the break, Saenz was fouled on an attempt by Actkinson. He made one-of-two shots at the line to make it a onepoint Steers lead, 39-38.
With 4:24 to play, Martinez was fouled on an attempt by Williams, who fouled out of the contest. Martinez sank both free throws to give Littlefield a brief lead, but the Steers responded, as McElroy drained a three from the right wing off of the assist from Stancell, making the score, 42-40. A foul was called with 3:50 to play in the game, and after the play Martinez was given a technical foul, as he fouled out of the contest. Farwell, though would miss all three free throws and after the inbound play, Green took a charge on Vazquez to regain possession for the Wildcats.
With 2: 37 to play, Green knocked down a step-back three from the right elbow and Salazar followed it up with a fast-break lay-up to give the Wildcats a three-point cushion, 45-52, as Farwell took a time out with 2:20 left to play. Out of the break, Ryan Williams was called for a five-second call, as Littlefield took a time out to talk things over.
Stancell was fouled with under one minute to play by Salazar and he sank one- of two free throws to cut the lead to, 45-43. Ryan Williams was fouled on the floor by Actkinson, earning a one-in-one opportunity at the line. He sank both free throws to make it a four-point Littlefield lead. With just over 30 seconds remaining, Snyder dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Ja’Den Williams. He converted the free throw to make the score, 47-46. Ja’Den Williams made up for it on the next play, taking a charge on Stancell. With 3.7 seconds remaining a jumpball was called with the possession arrow point to Farwell and on the next play A. Nunez dropped in a put- back at the buzzer to win the game for the Steers, 48-47.
Salazar led the team in scoring with 14 points, while Randle tallied eight points and Trevino finished with seven points. Green netted six points, while Martinez tallied five points, Ryan Williams chipped in four points, Ja’Den Williams contributed two points and Saenz finished with one point in the contest.
The Wildcats hosted Slaton on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time. They will continue their season on Friday with a road game against the Lubbock Christian Eagles.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.