The #5 ranked Whiteface Lady Lopes played host to the Sundown Roughettes for a district basketball matchup this past Tuesday night, resulting in the Lady Lopes winning 51-42.
The game was an absolute thriller, which was no surprise after the war the two teams had last month, where the Lady Lopes previously won 41-32 in Sundown.
Given the scare in the last matchup, Whiteface came ready to play, outscoring Sundown 14-0 in the first quarter, but the Roughettes would respond by outscoring the Lady Lopes 32-21 in the middle quarters and they would even take the lead in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Lopes would respond themselves by dominating the final four minutes of the game to secure the nine-point win.
“We got off to a great start, which is what we want,” Lady Lopes Head Basketball Coach Jason Blankenship said. “Hats off to Sundown, they didn’t give up, and fought us for the next two quarters, and kind of got us on the ropes. Our girls are very resilient. They’ve been through the fire in years past and know how to play in big games. They hit key shots down the stretch, made their free throws when they got them, and got us what we needed.”
It may have been more strenuous than others in the past, but the Lady Lopes’ win marks their 27th consecutive victory, and it was powered by many clutch performances including Emily Blankenship with 17 points behind three threepointers throw effort.
Other Lady Lopes scorers included Lainey Sanders with 13 points behind three three-pointers made and a 4/6 free throw effort, Kambry Sanders with 10 points behind three three-pointers made, Abi Soliz with five points, and Gracyn Kauffman and Keyarah Castaneda both with three points.
Those performances also helped secure the 2A District 5 Championship for the Lady Lopes, which Coach Blankenship reflected on.
“I’m very proud of them. They had a goal of doing that. They did that last year and we were undefeated. This year we knew it was going to be tougher with new coaches coming in, and when that happens, programs get a little resurgence out of it,” Coach Blankenship said. “Ropes and Sundown had very good years, so it’s not easy to do. We try to tell them that what they’re doing is uncommon. It’s hard to stay focused and that can lead to sluggish nights, but our girls have been very focused throughout district.”
The district title securing win improves the Lady Lopes to 31-2 overall and 12-0 in district play to end the regular season, which earns them the top small school 2A District 5 playoff bid.
The Lady Lopes will play Iraan at 6 p.m. at Andrews High School on Monday for their first-round playoff matchup.
On the Roughettes side of things, they were once again right on the doorstep of taking down an elite team, continuing the trend of great basketball they’ve been playing as of late.
“We spotted them 14 and then we outscored them by 15 in the last 20 minutes. I told the girls to be up by one against the number five team in the state on their home court is not a bad thing,” Roughettes Head Basketball Coach Jared Neighbors said. “We just kind of got tired. We battled. There’s a few key offensive rebounds that really killed us, that propelled them ahead at the end.”
They certainly did battle, as several Roughettes put together great stat lines, including Kelbie Powell with 13 points behind 6/9 shooting, adding six rebounds, two assists and one steal, Kyndal Taggart with 10 points behind 4/6 shooting and 2/2 free throws made, adding five rebounds and two steals, and Camry Jourden with seven points behind ¾ shooting, adding three steals and an assist.
Other Roughette stat lines included Avyian Mc-Glasson with four points, three assists, two rebounds, two steals and two blocks, Kaytlin Clausen with four points, four rebounds and two assists, and Kathryn Flores with four points, one rebound and one assist.
The loss drops them to 22-12 overall and 9-3 in district play, which ties them for second in the 2A District 5 standings.
Due to the tie, the Roughettes will be facing off against the Ropes Lady Eagles over the weekend at Levelland High School. The winner of that matchup will receive the 2A District 5 Big School top playoff seed, which will determine the first-round playoff matchups