The Whiteface Lady Lopes and Antelopes both squared off against each respective Sands team on Dec. 19, with the Lady Antelopes dominating the Lady Stangs, 56-21, and the Antelopes dropping a heartbreaker against the Mustangs, 63-62.
The win improves the Lady Lopes to 16-2 overall, while the loss drops the Antelopes to 5-3.
In the Lady Lopes 35-point win, they won nearly every single team statistical category, including rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and turnovers forced. Most notably, they had 11 more steals and a positive turnover margin of 16.
The Lady Lopes outshot Sands 48% to 32% on field goals and 67% to 38% from the free throw line, but Sands outshot them 40% to 38% from three-point range.
The athletes that played the biggest roles in that domination were Kambry Sanders and Emily Blankenship, both of whom scored in double figures.
Sanders scored 23 points, going 8/14 on shot attempts, while shooting a blistering 5/8 from three-point range, and adding seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. While Blankenship scored 10 points, shooting at a 50% clip, adding five steals, three rebounds and an assist.
Other standouts included Lainey Sanders with eight points, three assists and a steal, Macie Waggoner with seven points, three rebounds and a block, and Keyarah Castaneda with four points, five rebounds, three blocks, a steal and an assist.
“Great team effort. I was able to get our freshmen considerable playing time, and they did a great job,” Lady Lopes Head Coach Jason Blankenship said. “Our upper classmen are great leaders and got us off to a great start. We are looking forward to the break for some much-needed rest to be ready for the Brownwood tournament Dec. 29-31.”
The Lady Lopes are scheduled to face the May Lady Tigers on Monday at 5:20 p.m. in the Brownwood Junior High gym for the first round of the TexasBank Holiday Classic.
On the Antelopes side of things, it was a crushing one-point loss, that came about after two hard fought overtimes. The Antelopes led multiple times in the game, but they were unable to close it out.
“It was a good learning game for our guys. Sands did a good job of pressuring our guards and doubling our posts,” Antelopes Head Coach Brandon Flores said. “We definitely have to take better care of the basketball in those situations. With three starters fouling out, it forced our bench to play key minutes, and I thought they did a good job of handling that. There are lots of opportunities for us to learn and grow from this game and get ready for district play.”
They certainly stepped up in the face of adversity and pulled each other’s weight amidst foul troubles, as seven different players scored against Sands and three scored in double figures.
Scorers included Ivaniel Gandara with 15 points, Cesar Chavez with 13 points, Isaak Soliz with 11 points, Victor Borunda with nine points, Jose Flores with seven points, Luke Gresham with five points and Rylan Jones with two points.
Following the loss, the Antelopes will enjoy the holiday break before returning to action in the Littlefield Wildcat Classic from Monday through Wednesday.
Their first-round matchup is on Monday at 2:40 p.m. against the Fort Stockton Panthers in the Aux gym.
Their bracket pool includes Dumas, Littlefield Junior Varsity, Tulia, Olton, New Home, Denver City, Fort Stockton, Farwell, Nazareth, Sundown, Stanton, Sudan and Littlefield.