The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball won a thriller in Muleshoe on Friday over the Lady Mules in their district-opener, 34-31.
With the win, the Lady Cats improve to 1-4 overall, 1-0 in district play.
Littlefield jumped out to a twopoint lead through the first quarter, 8-6, but the Lady Mules opened the second quarter on a, 6-0, scoring run to take the lead, 12-8, after Grace Leal knocked down a pair of free throws with 4:43 to remaining in the first half.
With 3:39 remaining in the opening half, Leal was fouled on an attempt, earning a trip to the freethrow line. She converted both baskets to push the Muleshoe lead to six points, 14-8, and Natalie Ambriz followed it up with a layup to make the score, 16-8.
Arceli Diaz was fouled on floor by junior, Brookelyn Gau, in the double bonus. She split the free throws to make it a nine-point lead for Muleshoe, but on the other end, freshman, Kyndal Edgemon, answered with a spin to the basket for a lay-up to make the score, 17-10, with 2:35 left to play in the half.
With 1:26 left in the second quarter, Aaliyah Sanchez was fouled on the floorby junior, Emily Champion, sending her to the line for free throws. She made one out of two at the line, pushing their lead back out to, 18-10.
With time winding down, Muleshoe took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, senior, Geyah Garza, fired a pass through traffic to Gau, who dropped in a lay-up for the Lady Cats, trimming the lead to, 18-12, going into the locker room at halftime.
Ambriz opened the third quarter with a jumper in the lane, but Littlefield answered, as junior, Ashtyn Parker, dropped in a layup off of the assist from sophomore, Madison McNeese, cutting the lead to, 20-14. With 4:50 left in the third quarter, McNeese knocked down a pull-up jumper in the lane to make it a two-possession game, 20-16.
With four minutes remaining in the quarter, Garza was fouled on a put-back attempt by Leal; she sank both free throws to cut the lead to two points, 20-18. Ambriz answered with a lay-up for the Lady Mules and the Lady Cats took a time out with 2:55 to talk things over.
Out of the break, Ambriz went coast-to-coast for a lay-up, but Littlefield answered, as Parker drew a shooting foul on Kristina Arzola, earning a trip to the line. She split the attempts, making the score, 24-19, as the third quarter came to a close.
Ambriz knocked down a bucket for Muleshoe to open the final quarter, and on their next possession, she was fouled on the give-and-go by Champion, earning a trip to the line. She converted one-of-two shots at the line, stretching their lead back out to, 27-19, with 6:53 to play in the game.
Arzola took a charge on McNeese, who picked up her fourth foul of the contest, and Littlefield took a time out with 5:09 to talk things over. Out of the break, Ambriz was fouled on the floor by Garza. She again split the free throws, making the score, 28-19, with 4:30 remaining in the game.
Garza dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Leilani Solis to trim the lead back down to six points, 28-21. Muleshoe called a time out to talk about their strategy, and out of the break, KyLee Villa was fouled on the floor by McNeese, who fouled out of the contest. Villa went to the line for a one-in-one opportunity, but the missed the free throw.
Littlefield responded on the other end, as Edgemon was fouled on a put-back attempt by Ambriz; she converted both free throws, trimming the lead to five points, 28-23.
With 1:28 remaining, Ambriz called a time out during an inbound play to avoid a five-second call, and out of the break, Garza grabbed a defensive rebound and heaved an outlet pass down court to Gau, who dropped in a lay-up to make it a three-point game, 28-25.
Muleshoe took a time out with 1:12 left to play, and out of the break, Garza stole an inbound pass and dropped it in for a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Leal. She converted the free throw to tie the game, 28-28.
Muleshoe turned the ball over with just over one minute to play and the Lady Cats capitalized, as Garza drained a three from the top of the key to make the score, 31-28. on the other end, Ambriz was fouled on the floor by Mahalia Huey and sank both free throws to cut the Littlefield lead to one point, 31-30.
With 23.6 seconds remaining, Champion was fouled on the floor by Sanchez and sank both ends of the one-in-one opportunity to make it a three-point Lady Cat lead, 33-30.
With 16.2 seconds remaining, Arzola was fouled on the floor by Garza, who fouled out of the contest for Littlefield. Arzola sank one-of-two shots at the line to make it a two-point game, 33-31.
With time winding down, Champion was fouled by Arzola and sank one-of-two shots at the line to ice the game, completing the comeback for Littlefield, 34-31.
Garza led the Lady Cats in scoring with 13 points, while Gau and Edgemon each netted six points and McNeese, Champion and Parker each finished with three points.
The Lady Cats hosted Denver City on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time. They will continue their season on Friday with a home game against Lamesa.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.