The Levelland Loboettes improved to 2-0 in district play after holding off the Snyder Lady Tigers at home Tuesday, 50-40.
Coming out of the gate, the Loboettes offense put up a 22-4 lead over the Lady Tigers within the first eight minutes.
Snyder would spend the remainder of the game trailing the Loboettes, but would not pack up for the night.
Switching between a full and half court press as the game went along, the Loboettes continuously found themselves in trouble trying to navigate through the Lady Tigers.
Turnovers forced by the press resulted in Snyder allowing themselves to never be routed by the Loboettes and eventually cut the Levelland lead down to single digits late in the second half.
Continuing to rely on their defensive performances, the Loboettes as a whole have been picking themselves up offensively as a collective group.
Three Loboettes found themselves in double figures as Carly Tienda, Olivia Velardez and Lelani Sanchez scored 10 points each.
Laci White added eight points, while Destynii Jones scored seven off the bench and Emery Smith scored three. Angelica Gonzales and Madison Stafford got one each in the win.
Levelland finished 19 of 43 from the hardwood at 44 percent, while only connecting on 5-17 from behind the arch.
Levelland gave up 28 turnovers that led to 14 points for Snyder, while the Lady Tigers gave up 19 turnovers leading to just five Loboette points.
Improving to 22-3 on season, the Loboettes are currently pushing through the remainder of the first half of district play in the top spot.
“We did a pretty good job of attacking the basket and getting the shots that we wanted,” said Loboette Head Coach Clay Barnett. “Obviously, they were scrappy, and the press paid off for them.
Coach Barnett is confident in his team’s ability to naviagate the press defense because his team was able to do it in spurts throughout the game against Snyder.
“I know we can make them pay for doing that, but we really didn’t do a good job of doing that,” explained Coach Barnett. “Looking back at the film, I think there are a few things that are easily correctable. Some of us weren’t in the right spots and some of us weren’t moving. Once we address those issues, I think we’ll be in a good sport for that type of defense again.”
Coach Barnett was proud of his team’s effort to continue to fight and maintain a lead through the tough game.
“Credit to our kids,” said Coach Barnett. “Snyder managed to cut the lead to single digits and our kids kept playing and they’ve really done that all year for the most part.”