The Littlefield Wildcats lost a tough contest on the road to open district play, falling to the Slaton Tigers, 7968.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 85 overall, 0-1 in district play.
Kam McCarty drove the left side for a lay-up off of the assist from Jayden Barrio to open the contest, but on the other end, Kyndell Mullins was fouled on an attempt by Nate Castaneda. He made one-of-two shots from the line to get the Tigers on the board, but the Wildcats answered, as Ryan Williams drove the lane, kicking the ball across the floor to Nate Castaneda, who buried a three from the right wing, making the score, 5-1, with 6:11 left to play in the opening quarter.
Castaneda took a charge on Braeshon Kennard, and McCarty followed it up with a lay-up on the left side for the Wildcats, stretching their lead to, 7-1. However, Slaton would respond, as Daniel Payne drove the left side for a lay-up and Z’Qedrian Whaley followed it up with a lay-up to cut the lead to, 7-5, with 4:24 to play in the first quarter.
McCarty dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Matthew Perez. He converted the lead to push their lead back out to, 10-5, but Payne drew a shooting foul on Castaneda, his second, and converted both shots at the line to make it a three-point Littlefield lead, 10-7.
With just over two minutes remaining in the quarter, Mullins scored a lay-up in transition for the Tigers and he followed it up with a steal, going coast-to-cost for a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Williams. He made the free throw, giving Slaton a onepossession lead, 12-10. Barrio pulled up and knocked down a jumper from the right elbow to tie the game, but the Tigers quickly regained the lead, as Perez dropped in a put-back, making the score, 14-12.
Chip Green dropped in a put-back off of a miss by McCarty, but with under a minute to play in the quarter, Payne dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Caden Reyes. He converted the free throw, making the score, 17-14. McCarty was fouled on a fast-break attempt by Perez and sank both shots at the line, but with time winding down in the first quarter, Ashton Garcia drained a three from the left wing to give Slaton a, 20-16, lead heading into quarter number two.
McCarty opened the second quarter with a spin move in the lane to get to the basket for a lay-up, but the Tigers answered, as Jacob Lopez dropped in a lay-up and Mullins followed it up with a put-back off of a blocked shot by McCarty, making the score, 24-18, with 6:24 to play in the half.
Barrio dropped in a lay-up on the right side for Littlfield, but Mullins answered with a floater on the other end, drawing an and-one foul on McCarty. He missed the free throw leaving the score, 26-20. With just over three minutes left to play in the half, Williams drove the middle for a layup, but on the other end, Whaley was fouled on an attempt by McCarty, his second. Whaley made one-of-two shots at the line, pushing the Tiger lead to, 27-22.
Jose Payan got on the floor for a loose ball, as Head Coach Nathan McKinnon quickly called a time out to prevent a jump ball, but out of the break, Mullins dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Payne, stretching the lead to, 29-22. Williams responded with a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Ben Castillo, but Perez and Mullins dropped in back-to-back buckets to close out the half for the Tigers, with Slaton in front, 33-25.
Kennard knocked down a deep three from the left elbow to open the second half for Slaton and Mullins tipped in a miss by Lopez to extend their lead to, 38-25. Castaneda drove the right baseline for a lay-up and Williams followed it up with a three from the right wing, off of the assist from Barrio to cut the lead back to single-digits, 38-30.
Payne drove the right side for a layup, but on the other end, McCarty drove the left side for a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Lopez. He converted the free throw to make the score, 40-33.With under four minutes remaining in the quarter, Green picked up a steal and dished it ahead to Williams for a lay-up on the fast-break, trimming the lead to, 40-35, as Slaton took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Payne scored back-to-back lay-ups for the Tigers, but McCarty responded with a layup, drawing an and-one foul on Perez. He missed the free throw, leaving the score, 44-37, with 3:02 to play in the quarter. Payne was fouled on an attempt by Williams, his second, and he converted both shots at the line to make it a nine-point game, 46-37.
Williams answered with a three from the top of the key off of the assist from Barrio, but Perez knocked down a jumper for Slaton, making the score, 48-40, with 1:52 to play in the third quarter. Williams was fouled on the floor by Perez, his third, and made oneof- two shots from the line, but Slaton, again, answered with a bucket, as Lopez dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Payne, making the score, 5041.
With under a minute to go in the quarter, McCarty was fouled on an attempt by Whaley, his fourth, he split the free throws to cut the lead to eight points, but it was short lived, as Lopez knocked down a three from the left elbow to push the lead to, 53-42. Green answered with a three from the left elbow off of an assist from Williams, but Payne drilled a three from the right elbow at the buzzer to make the score, 56-45, going into the final quarter of play.
Garcia drained a three to begin the final quarter of play, and Slaton took a time out with 7:32 to play in the game, leading Littlefield, 59-45. Out of the break, Payne dropped in a lay-up through contact, but Castaneda answered with a three from the right elbow and Green followed it up with a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Barrio, cutting the lead to 10 points, 61-51.
Mullins dropped in back-to-back buckets for Slaton and Payne followed it up with a lay-up on the left side, as the Tigers stretched their lead back out to, 67-51, as Littlefield took a time out with 3:26 left to play in the contest. Out of the break, McCarty drew a shooting foul on Payne and made one-of-two shots from the line, trimming the lead to, 67-52.
Williams dropped in a floater in transition, drawing an and-one foul on Kennard. He converted the free throw to cut the lead to 12 points, and McCarty followed it up with a lay-up in transition to make the score, 67-57, with 2:39 left to play. On the other end Whaley converted a pair of free throws after being fouled on the floor by Barrio and Mullins split a pair from the line, after being fouled by Williams, making the score, 70-57, with 1:39 left to play.
McCarty knocked down a three from the left elbow, but on the other end, Whaley was fouled on the floor by Williams, his fourth. He split the attempts at the line and Williams responded with a put-back off of his own miss, making the score, 71-62, as Littlefield took a time out with 1:15 to play in the game.
Lopez was fouled on the floor by Reyes and converted both shots at the line, but with under a minute to play, Castaneda picked up a teal and tossed it ahead to Barrio, who drained a three from the right wing, as Littlefield took a time out trailing, 7365. Out of the break, Kennard made four consecutive free throws after being fouled by Green and Barrio, but Barrio answered with a three from the top of the key to trim the lead to, 7768.
Lopez closed out the contest with a bucket for the Tigers, as Littlefield dropped their district-opener, 79-68.
McCarty led the way for the Wildcats with 23 points, four rebounds, one assist and one block, while Williams tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Barrio chipped in 10 points, three assists, one rebound and one steal, while Castaneda contributed eight points, five rebounds, one assist and one block. Green finished with eight points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal.
The Wildcats hosted Shallowater on Friday as district play continued. Results were not available at press time. They will continue their season on Dec. 27th when they begin play at the Wildcats Classic. Brackets can be found in the Dec. 25th edition of the Leader-News.