Wildcats drop heart-breaker to Childress in Area round, 61-58

The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity basketball team saw their season come to a heart-breaking end in the Area round of the Class 3A Basketball Play-offs, as they fell to #19 Childress on Friday at Floydada High School, 61-58.

With the loss, the Wildcats end the season with a mark of 30-4 overall, 11-1 in district play.

Kam McCarty opened the contest with a drive to the basket, dumping the ball off to Jeremiah Trevino for a lay-up to put the Wildcats up, 2-0. Trevino followed it up with a drive and kick out to MJ Randle on the left elbow, who buried the three to stretch the Wildcats’ lead to, 5-0, with 7:11 to play in the opening quarter.

Childress knocked down a jumper and Billy Moore followed it up with a lay-up to cut the lead to, 5-4, with 6:35 left to play in the first quarter and on the next play, Aiden Allen was fouled on an attempt by Randle, earning a trip to the line. He made the first shot, but missed the second, however, Scout Smith was able to grab the offensive rebound, as he got it back to Allen, who dropped in a lay-up to put Childress in front, 75.

Trevino answered with a three from the left wing, off of the assist from McCarty to regain the lead for Littlefield, 8-7, but on the other end, Allen was fouled on an attempt by Jayden Barrio, earning a trip to the line. He converted both free throws to put Childress back on top, 9-8, but it was short-lived, as Trevino dropped in a lay-up from the left side, putting the Wildcats on top, 10-9, with 5:19 to play in the quarter.

McCarty went up and under for a lay-up to stretch the lead to, 129, and Barrio followed it up with a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Billy Moore. He missed the free throw, leaving the score, 14-9, with just over four minutes remaining in the quarter. With 3:25 to play in the first, Isaiah Jalomo was fouled on the floor by Ryan Williams and converted both free throws to make the score, 14-11.

Ja’Den Williams responded with a put-back off of a miss by Omar Martinez, but on the next play, Allen took a charge on Martinez and with time winding down in the quarter, Caleb Moore dropped in a lay-up to make it a three-point Littlefield lead, 16-13, as the first quarter came to a close.

Billy Moore pulled up in transition for a three from the right elbow off of the assit form Allen to open the second frame, but Ja’Den Williams answered with a short jumper from the left elbow to make the score, 18-16, with 6:46 left to play in the first half. Allen spun to the middle for a lay- up, as Littlefield took a time out with 4:46 to play in the half and the game tied, 18-18.

Out of the break, Chip Green drained a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Ja’Den Williams and Trevino scored a lay-up on the left side to stretch their lead back out to, 23-18, with under four minutes to play in the half. Childress would not go away, as Allen banked in a runner from the left side and he was fouled on the next play by Martinez, earning a trip to the line. He converted both free throws to cut the lead to one point, 23-22.

Allen drained a three from the right elbow to regain the lead for Childress, but on the other end, Trevino ws fouled on an attempt by Caleb Moore, earning a trip to the line. He converted both free throws to tie the game, 25-25, but it was short-lived, as Allen sank a three from the top of the key, putting Childress back in front, 28-25. With under a minute to play in the half, Ryan Williams spun into the lane and knocked down a fadeaway jumper to make it a one-point Childress lead and with time winding down in the half, Ryan Williams was fouled on an attempt by Caleb Moore and split the free throws to tie the game, 28-28, going into the locker room at halftime.

Allen opend the second half with a lay-up for Childress, but Green answered with a three from the left wing off of an assit from Trevino to put the Wildcats in front, 31-30. With 5:31 remaining in the third quarter, Caleb Moore dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on McCarty, who picked up his third foul of the game. He made the free throw to put Childress up by two, 33-31, but Ryan Williams drained a three from the right elbow off of an assist from Barrio, again giving Littlefield a one-point advantage, 34-33.

Jalomo dropped in a lay-up in transition for Childress, but the Wildcats pushed the ball up the floor on their next possession, as Omar Martinez drove the lane, kicking it out to Green, who knocked down the three from the left wing, making the score, 37-35, with 3:41 to play in the third. Allen quickly dropped in a lay-up off of an inbound play to tie the game and on their next possession, Jalomo was fouled on the floor by Sir Pratt, earning a trip to the line.

He made one of two from the line as the ball went out of bounds off of Childress, with the score, 38-37, in favor of Childress. The back-and-forth match continued, as Pratt dropped in a floater in the lane off of an assist from Green, but Kobe Sims dropped in a layup in transition to keep Childress in front, 40-39, with 1:57 left to play in the quarter.

Ryan Willaims knocked down a runner from the left side, but Allen answered with a drive along the right baseline, dropping in a layup to make the score, 42-41, with Childress in front. With under a minute to go in the quarter, Allen was fouled on the floor by Pratt and converted both free throws to make the score, 44-41, but with time winding down in the quarter, Josiah Garcia dropped in a putback off of a miss by Martinez to cut the lead to, 44-43, going into the final quarter of play.

Jesus Jalomo knocked down a three from the right wing off of the assist from Allen, but on the other end, Randle grabbed an offensive rebound off of a miss by Trevino and got it to McCarty who knocked down a three from the top of the key to make the score, 4746, with 7:24 left to play. Allen and Billy Moore dropped in back-toback lay-ups for Childress, as they called a time out with 6:32 remaining, leading, 51-45.

Green drew a shooting foul on Jesus Jalomo with just under six minutes left to play and he made one-of-two shots from the line, cutting the lead to, 51-46. on the other end, Allen drew a foul on Randle, who picked up his fourth of the game. Allen split the attempts with 5:47 left to play, pushing their lead to, 52-46.

Allen was called for a back court call with 5:27 to play and the Wildcats capitalized, as Ryan Williams hit McCarty with a no-look pass for a lay-up, making the score, 5248. Ryan Williams followed it up with a lay-up in transition to tie the game, but Childress answered with a bucket on the other end to regain the lead, 54-52.

With 3:46 left to play, Trevino knocked down a jumper from the top of the key to tie the game, 5454, but Allen quickly answered with a lay-up on the right side to give Childress a one-possession lead. Childress took a time out to prevent a turnover with 2:54 remaining in the game, and out of the break, Caleb Moore dropped in a floater from the left elbow to make the score, 58-54.

With 2:07 left to play, Ryan Williams was fouled on an attempt by Isaiah Jalomo and converted both shots at the line to cut the lead to one- possession, 58- 56. Allen drove the left side for a lay-up, but with 1:05 left to play, McCarty was fouled on an attempt by Sims earning a trip to the line. McCarty made both attempts from the line to make the score, 60-58.

Littlefield took a time out with 27.88 seconds left to play, and out of the break, Billy Moore was fouled on the floor by Ja’Den Williams. He missed the first shot, but made the second to extend the lead to, 61-58. Childress took a time out with 9.18 seconds to play and a three from the right elbow by Ryan Williams at the buzzer was off the mark, as the Wildcats came up just short, 61-58.

Trevino led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points, to go along with four rebounds and two assists. Ryan Williams tallied 12 points, three rebounds and two assists, while Green chipped in 10 points, four rebounds, one assist and one block.

McCarty tallied eight points, three rebounds, two assists and one block, while, Ja’Den Williams contributed four points, three rebounds and one assist, and Randle tallied three points, one rebound and one assist. Garcia chipped in two points and one rebound, while Barrio contributed two points, one rebound, one assist and one steal and Pratt added two points. Martinez finished with five rebounds and two assists in the contest.