Wrapping up their season with an overall 34-3 record and three gold balls, the sixth ranked Levelland Loboettes fell to the number one ranked Glen Rose Lady Tigers, 55-20, in the 4A Region 1 Quarterfinals Tuesday night in Abilene.
Two teams with dominant defenses, the Loboettes struggled to match the Lady Tigers offensive attack.
With both teams dominating and posting impressive offensive outings against their two prior opponents in their respective opening rounds of playoffs, the Loboettes fought tooth-and-nail to stay in the race.
Scoring 12 points in the opening quarter, the Loboettes responded with seven points.
Olivia Velardez and Madison Stafford each sank a three-pointer while Carly Tienda split a pair of free-throws.
Mustering a four-point second quarter thanks to a Leilani Sanchez lay-up and a pair of Destynii Jones free-throws, the Loboettes trailed heading into the locker room, 27-11.
The Loboettes limited the Lady Tigers to seven points in the third quarter, but the offensive attack for the Loboettes could not gain any traction and put together a five-point quarter.
Trailing 34-16, Levelland began to lose steam as they found four points before the final buzzer.
A 21-point fourth quarter would cap off the Glen Rose win and a ticket punched into the next round of the playoffs.
“I thought we played hard and really that’s all you can ask for,” said Loboette Head Coach Clay Barnett. “I thought that nerves kind of kind of kept us from making some shots that maybe we normally make but give credit to Glen Rose, I told the girls at the end of the at the end of the game that we possibly played the state representative or state champ you know our region.”
Coach Barnett felt like his team play a solid three quarters before the fourth got away from the team in terms of fouling and letting them add points. “I felt like we were a little tight and as the game went on, we kind of lost a little confidence there on the offensive end,” explained Coach Barnett. “As for effort goes, I was pleased. I told them with the season that they, they had no reason to hang their heads to anybody.”
As the Loboette season comes to an end, district awards were recently announced in the beginning of the week.
Making the District 6-4A All-District Selection for the Loboettes were: Leilani Sanchez who was awarded District MVP; Carly Tienda who was awarded Co-Defensive MVP; Emery Smith who was awarded Offensive MVP; Laci White and Olivia Velardez making First Team All-District; Destynii Jones making Second Team All-District; Angelica Gonzalez and Madison Stafford being awarded honorable mention; and Adrenna Galvan, Ellie Phillips, Tienda, White, Stafford, Gonzalez earning Academic All-District.