The Littlefield Lady Cats’ varsity basketball team improved to 9-1 in district play on Friday with a road win over the Denver City Fillies, 53-31.
With the win, the Lady Cats imrpove their mark to 10-6 overall on the season.
Valarie Yanez scored a lay-up in transition for the Fillies to open the contest, but junior guard, Brookelyn Gau, answered with a put-back off of a miss by senior guard, Geyah Garza, drawing an and-one foul on Alyssa Jimenez. She missed the free throw leaving the score tied, 2-2, with 4:30 reamining in the opening quarter.
The Fillies were fouled on an attempt by Mahalia Huey; they split the free throws to give them a one-point advantage and Marley Jordon followed it up with a layup to stretch their lead to, 5-2, with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter.
Zoe Garcia banked in a jumper from the right elbow to cut the lead to one point, but with time winding down in the quarter, Melissa Soto, dropped in a lay-up in transition to give Denver City a, 7-4, lead, as the first quarter came to a close.
Freshman, Arianna Cruz, picked up a steal and drew a foul on the fast-break on Sydney Roberts. She went to the line and knocked down both free throws to cut the lead to one point, 7-6. With 4:43 to play in the first half, Gau stole a long inbound pass from Denver City and got it back to sophomore, Madison McNeese, who drained a three from the right elbow, giving Littlefield their first lead of the game, 9-7.
Bella De La Rosa tied the game with a jmper from the left wing, bug Gau quickly answered with a layup off of the assist from Garza, making the score, 11-9, with 2:32 to play in the half. McNeese buried a three from the top of the key off of the assist from Gau, but Emma Spurgeon answered with a jumper to trim the lead to, 14-11.
With under one minute to play, McNeese split a pair of free throws to send them into the locker room at halftime in front of the Fillies, 15-11.
Yanez was fouled on an attempt by junior guard, Emily Champion, to open the second half. Yanez split the free throws to make it a threepoint game and on the next play, the Fillies dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on McNeese. They missed the free throw leaving the score, 15-14.
McNeese quickly answered with a three from the left elbow to stretch their lead back out to, 18-14. But, on the other end, Jordon was fouled on an attempt by Huey and sank both free throws, trimming the lead to, 18-16.
Littlefield took a time out with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter and out of the break, Huey was fouled on an attempt by Jordon. She sank both free throws to push their lead out to four points, 20-16. Yanez converted a pair of free throws after being fouled by Huey and Jordon split a pair after being fouled by Garza to make the score, 20-19, but on the other end, Garcia was fouled on an attempt by Jordon earning a trip to the line. She made one-of-two shots at the line to make it a one-possession game, 21-19.
With under one minute to play in the quarter, Garza was fouled on back-to-back plays and converted all four free throws to send them into the fourth quarter ahead ofDenver City, 25-19.
McNeese picked up a steal and went coast-to-coast for a lay-up to open the final quarter of play, as the Fillies took a time out with 7:03 remaining in the game. Out of the break, Gau was fouled on an attempt by Jordon and converted both free throws to stretch the lead out to double-digits, 29-19.
Yanez scored a put-back off of her own miss, but McNeese answered with a three from the left elbow to make the score, 32-21, with 6:14 left to play.
With 5:46 remaining, McNeese drained another three from the top of the key, off of the assit from Champion, making the score, 35-21. Champion followed it up with a deep two-pointer from the right wing making the score, 37-21.
Denver City took a time out with 4:38 left to play and out of the break, Spurgeon knocked down a three from the left elbow to cut the lead to, 37-24. Gau responded with a lay-up and McNeese followed it up with a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line to make the score, 43-24.
McNeese kept their scoring run going, as she picked up a steal and took it the other way for a fastbreak lay-up, extending their lead to, 43-24. With just under three minutes remaining in the game, Gau hit McNeese for a three from the right elbow to extend their lead to, 46-24. Roberts answered with a three from the right elbow for Denver City and Spurgeon followed it up with a three from the right wing, but McNeese silenced the Denver City crowd with a three from the right elbow off of the assist from freshman, Kennadi Hanlin, making the score, 49-30.
Denver City took a time out with 1:39 remaining and with under one minute to play in the game, junior, Ashtyn Parker, knocked down a jumper from the right wing off of the assist from Gau, stretching the lead to, 51-30.
Hanlin picked up a steal and dropped in a fast-break lay-up drawing an and-one foul on the play. The free throw was no good, leaving the score, 53-30. Jordon split a pair of free throws to close out the game, as Littlefield took the contest, 53-31.
McNeese led the Lady Cats in scoring with 28 points, while Gau chipped in eight points and Garza finished with four points.
Garcia tallied three points, while Parker, Hanlin, Huey, Champion and Cruz each finished with two points in the contest.
The Lady Cats traveled to Friona on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time. They will close out the regular season on Tuesday with a home game against the Brownfield Lady Cubs.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.