The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team watched their season come to an end on Thursday night in Floydada, as they fell to the Childress Lady Cats, 52-32, in the Class 3A Area Round of the Basketball Play-offs.
With the loss, the Lady Cats finish the season with a mark of 2210 overall, 12-0 in district play.
Camaran Daniel buried a three from the right elbow to open the contest for Childress, but Madison McNeese answered with a fade-away from the right elbow to cut the lead to, 3-2. Daniel hit a cutting Adah Henderson for a layup on the other end to push their lead out to, 5-2, with 7:10 to play in the opening quarter.
Kate Taylor picked up a steal in their own end and dropped in the easy lay- up to stretch the Childress lead to, 7-2, but on the other end, Arianna Cruz was fouled on an attempt by Henderson. She made one-of-two shots at the line to trim the lead to, 7-3, with 6:36 to play in the first quarter. Daniel drained another three for Childress and Aspen Lomax dropped in a put-back for Childress to extend their lead to, 12-3.
With 4:29 to play in the quarter, McNeese was fouled on an attempt by Chloe Teichelman and sank both free throws to trim the lead to, 12-5. With 3:10 to play in the quarter, Cruz spun to the basket for a lay-up on the right side and Kennadi Hanlin picked up a steal on the next play, drawing a shooting foul on Teichelman. She made one-of-two shots at the line to make the score, 12-8, and on the defensive end, Hanlin took a charge in transition on Henderson to regain possession for Littlefield.
With under a minute to play in the quarter, Lomax was fouled on the floor by Jazmine Barrios, earning a one-in-one opportunity at the line. She converted both free throws to make it a six-point Childress lead, 14-8. With time winding down in the quarter, Kyndal Edgemon dropped in a baby-hook shot off the glass to cut the lead to, 14-10, as the first quarter came to a close.
Cruz was fouled on an attempt by Teichelman to open the second quarter; she sank both free throws to make it a one-possession game, and on their next possession, she was fouled on the floor by Taylor, earning a one-inone opportunity at the line. She converted both shots at the line to tie the game, 14-14, with 5:55 to play in the half.
Journey Prince was fouled on an attempt by Edgemon and sank both free throws to regain the lead for Childress, but on the other end, Cruz drove to the basket and drew a shooting foul on Daniel, earning a trip to the line. She split the free throws to make it a one-point game, 16-15. With 4:23 remaining in the half, Prince was fouled on the floor by Edgemon and split the free-throw attempts in the doublebonus to make it a one-possession game, 17-15.
Littlefield used back-to-back time outs, and out of the break, Daniel was fouled on an attempt by Hanlin with 2:50 remaining in the half. She sank both free throws, pushing their lead out to, 19-15. Marysa Saenz knocked down a jumper in the lane off of an assist from Amiah Elizondo, and on their next possession, Cruz was fouled on an attempt by Daniel and converted both free throws to tie the game, 19-19.
With just under a minute remaining in the half, Cruz was fouled on the floor by Clarisa Gamboa in the double-bonus; she sank both free throws to give Littlefield the lead, 21-19, but in the closing seconds of the half, Lomax dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Daniel to tie the game, 21-21, going into the locker room at halftime.
Edgemon dropped in a lay-up to open the second half and McNeese followed it up with a jumper in the lane of off the assist from Hanlin to put the Lady Cats in front, 25-21, but Daniel answered with a three to cut the Littlefield lead to one point, 25-24, with 5:47 remaining in the third quarter. McNeese was fouled on an attempt by Teichelman, who picked up her third foul of the contest; McNeese sank both free throws to put Littlefield back up, 26-24.
Henderson dropped in back-toback lay-ups off of assists from Teichelman and Taylor, but Edgemon responded with a drive to the basket for a lay-up off of the assist from Saenz to tie the game, 28-28. Daniel was fouled on an attempt by Elizondo and made one-of-two shots from the line to regain the lead for Childress and with 3:39 remaining in the quarter, she was fouled on a three-point attempt by Elizondo. This time she converted all three attempts at the line to make the score, 32-28.
Childress took a time out with 3:39 to play in the quarter and out of the break, Cruz dropped in a layup on the right side to cut the lead to, 32-30. Saenz followed it up with a jumper from the left elbow off of an assist from Edgemon to tie the game, but Lomax dropped in a layup and Teichelman split a pair of free throws to close out the third quarter with Childress in front, 3532.
Childress would shut it down in the fourth quarter, outscoring Littlefield, 17-0, to take the con-test, 52-32, for the 3A Area Championship.
The Lady Cats were led in scoring by Cruz, who netted 14 points, while McNeese tallied seven points and Edgemon added six points. Saenz tallied four points, while Hanlin finished with one point in the contest.