The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity basketball team fell to the Shallowater Mustangs on the road on Friday, 59-43, in their second meeting of district play.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 14-10 overall, 4-3 in district play.
Mikah Blackshear opened the contest with a three from the left elbow for Shallowater, but Elijah Rodriguez answered with a spin to the basket for a layup, off of an assist from Jayden Barrio to make the score, 3-2, with 6:36 remaining in the opening quarter. Logan Winn dropped in a floater off the glass and Cooper Martin followed it up with a lay-up, as Littlefield took a time out, trailing, 7-2, with 5:04 to play in the first quarter.
Out of the break, Winn drove the right side for a lay-up, but Sammy Saenz responded with a pull-up jumper in the lane, trimming the lead to, 9-4, with 2:31 remaining in the quarter. Champ Clanahan lobbed a pass over the defense Cruz Dickson for a lay-up, and Clanahan was fouled on their next possession by Andrew Davis, earning a trip to the line.
He made one- of- two shots at the line, stretching the Mustang lead to, 12-4, with 1:39 to play in the quarter. Shallowater buried a three from the right elbow, but Blayton Soliz answered with a put-back to trim the lead to, 15-6. With time winding down in the quarter, Saenz delivered a block on the defensive end, which led to a fast-break lay-up by Jose Payan, making the score, 15-8, as the first quarter came to a close.
With 4:59 remaining in the half, Dickson dropped in a lay-up in transition, drawing an and-one foul on Saenz. The free throw was no good, making the score, 178. Soliz answered with a put-back off of a miss by Rodriguez, but Winn responded with a drive to the basket for a lay-up, pushing the lead to, 19-10, with 4:11 remaining in the half.
Littlefield took a time out to talk things over, and out of the break, Clanahan dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Dickson, pushing the Shallowater lead to, 21-10. With 3:40 to play in the half, Blackshear dropped in a floater in the lane, drawing an and-one foul on Soliz. He converted the free throw to push their lead to, 24-10.
Rodriguez responded with a three from the right wing, off of an assist from Nate Castaneda, but Martin fired right back with a three from the left wing, pushing the lead to, 27-13. With 2:28 to play in the half, Soliz drained a three from the left wing, but on the other end, Clanahan was fouled on a put-back attempt by Soliz, earning a trip to the line. He made oneof- two shots at the line, stretching the lead to, 2816.
Blackshear was fouled on an attempt by Castaneda in transition; he converted both shots at the line to push their lead to, 30-16, going into the locker room at halftime.
Blackshear opened the second half with a reverse lay-up and Winn followed it up with a three from the left wing, off of the assist from Blackshear, extending their lead to, 35-16. Saenz got the Wildcats on the board in the second half with a jumper in the lane, but Dickson responded with a drive to the basket for a lay- up for Shallowater, making the score, 37-18, with 5:11 to play in the third quarter.
Davis was fouled on an attempt by Martin and made one-of-two shots at the line, and Rodriguez followed it up with a floater off of the assist from Barrio, trimming the lead to, 3721. Saenz followed it up with back-to-back threes off of assists from Davis and Barrio to make it a 10-point game, 37-27, with just under three minutes to play in the quarter.
However, Dickson would drop in a lay-up off of an assist from Winn and on their next possession, he was fouled on an attempt by Soliz. He made one-oftwo shots at the line to push the lead back out to, 40-27. With 1:42 remaining in the third quarter, Saenz drew a block on Bryson Clark. He made both shots at the line, trimming the lead to, 40-29.
Evan Nixon drew a shooting foul on Ben Castillo and split the attempts at the free-throw line, but Saenz closed out the quarter with a floater off the glass to cut the lead to 10 points, going into the final quarter of play.
Winn drained a three from the right wing to open the fourth quarter for Shallowater, but on the other end, Saenz was fouled on an attempt by Dickson, earning a trip to the line. He made one-of-two shots at the line, making the score, 44-32. The Mustangs would go on a run, as Winn drove the lane, dumping the ball off to Dickson for a lay-up and Blackshear followed it up with a fast-break lay-up off of a turnover by Castaneda, stretching the lead back out to, 48-32.
Winn drove the lane and dished the ball to Clanahan for a lay-up and Winn followed it up with a three from the left elbow to extend their lead to, 53-32, with 4:13 to play. Barrio scored a tip-in off of a miss by Saenz, but on the other end, Clanahan dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and- one foul on Payan. He converted the free throw to push the Shallowater lead to, 56-34.
Barrio drew a shooting foul on Clanahan and made one-of-two shots at the line, and Saenz followed it up with back-to-back threes from the top of the key, slicing the lead to, 56-41. With under a minute to play, Saenz was fouled on the floor and converted both free throws to trim the lead to, 56-43, but Clark would close out the game with a three from the right wing for the Mustangs, as Littlefield fell on the road, 59-43.
Saenz led the Wildcats in scoring with 23 points, to go along with two assists and two rebounds, while Rodriguez chipped in seven points and four rebounds, and Soliz contributed seven points, one rebound and one steal.
Barrio tallied three points, two steals and one rebound, while Payan added two points and two rebounds, and Davis finished with one point, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
The Wildcats were at home on Tuesday to take on Muleshoe for their first meeting of district play. Results were not available at press time. They will continue district play next Tuesday with a home game against Roosevelt.
Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.