Sports roundup: Lady Lions secure playoff berth

By Wesley Gardner

LPR Editor

The Lockhart Lady Lions basketball team punched their ticket to the playoffs on Friday with a 46-31 win over the Navarro High School Vikings on Friday.

With the win, the Lions are now 17-14 overall, with a 10-3 record in district play. The Lions still have one game left in the regular season against LBJ

Austin High School, but even with a loss, they can drop no lower than a tie for the second seed coming out of their district.

Head Coach Dennis Helms lauded his teams’ improvement over the course of the season.

“I am proud of the girls for working so very hard to become a good team,” said Helms. “They overcame a lot of adversity in achieving at least a second-place tie in the district.”

Lockhart started off quickly on Friday with a pair of outside shots to take an early 5-0 lead. Stifling defense on the other end of the court kept Navarro scoreless through the first three minutes of the game.

Navarro would finally get on the board with a free throw, but the lions answered right back with a nice inside dish under the bucket to go up 7-1.

Senior point guard Kallie Krenz would extend the lead with a three pointer on the Lions’ next possession to take a 10-1 lead with 2:30 to play in the first quarter.

The Vikings scored on their next drive with off a wild jump shot that banked off the glass, then stopped the Lions on their next possession, scoring again to close the gap to 10-6 with 20 seconds left to play in the first. A quick drive and bucket from Krenz would end the quarter with Lockhart leading 12-6.

Both teams would go scoreless to start to the second quarter, with Lockhart ending the drought two minutes in to go up 14-6. On the next possession,

Navarro found the basket for the first time in the quarter with a quick drive inside, but Lockhart answered back on the other end to maintain an 8-point lead at 16-8.

The two teams would trade scores over the next several minutes, but Lockhart managed to keep the deficit large, taking a 20-10 lead with two minutes to play.

The Vikings’ offense came alive to close the quarter with four quick points, but Lockhart added two of their own with seven seconds left to play to end the half with a 22-14 lead.

Navarro continued its hot streak to start to the second half, scoring six unanswered points to narrow the Lions’ lead to only two points with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter.

The Lions would finally stop the Vikings’ run with a three pointer from Krenz followed by an outside jump shot from Alexa Henderson for five quick points and a 27-20 lead. Navarro would only score two more points in the third quarter, as Lockhart jumped to a nine-point lead that would not be overcome.

Krenz led all scorers with 22 points and three assists. Arianna Henderson and Rylee Tidwell each led the team in rebounds with five apiece.

Looking forward to next week, Helms said his team needed to remain focused and reduce errors if they’re going to find playoff success.

“We need to be more consistent with our offense and cut down on unforced turnovers,” said Helms.

Editor’s update

The Lockhart Lady Lions basketball team closed out the regular season with a 36-27 win over LBJ High School on Tuesday, bringing their overall record to 18-14, with an 11-3 record in district.

Senior point guard Kallie Krenz led all scorers with 14 points and six assists. Arianna Henderson led the team on the boards with 7 rebounds. 

The Lions will kick off their playoff campaign against the San Antonio Wagner High School Thunderbirds. Wagner is heading into the post season with a 20-9 overall record and a 12-4 record in district.

The Lions and the Thunderbirds will face off at 6 p.m. Monday at Seguin High School, 1315 E. Cedar St., Seguin.

Boys’ Basketball

The Lockhart Lions boys’ basketball team kept their playoff hopes alive on Friday with a 46-37 win over the Navarro High School Vikings.

With the win, the Lions are now 8-21 overall and 4-7 in district play. The Lions are currently ranked fifth in district, one spot out of the playoffs.

Travis High School is hanging on to the fourth and final playoff position with 6-5 district record. If Lockhart wins their remaining three games and Travis drops their last three, the Lions will make the playoffs.

It will be a tall order for the Lions, as they’ll need to beat an LBJ Austin High School team boasting an 8-1 district record.

Editor’s update

The Lockhart Lions boys’ basketball team’s hopes of making the playoffs were dashed on Tuesday after the team suffered a 90-47 loss to top-ranked district opponent LBJ Austin.

The Lions will round out the season with a Friday night matchup against Crockett High School at 8 p.m. at Crockett.

Lockhart’s final regular season game will be played at 8 p.m. Tuesday at home against McCallum High School.

Power lifting

The Lockhart boys’ and girls’ power lifting team competed at Lehman High School over the weekend, with the boys’ team finishing 10th overall and the girls’ team finishing third overall.

Each squad featuring several individual medalists at the event. On the girls’ side, Gabby Parra finished in fifth place in the 132-pound division, Makaela Wyles finished in second place in the 148-pound division, Adecela Martinez finished in second place in the 259-pound division and Camryn Martinez finished in third place in the 259-pound division.

For the boys, Marcus Oliva secured a third-place finish in the 181-pound division, David Sillero finished in third place in the 275-pound division and Isaiah Samaripa placed second in the SHW division.

The girls’ power lifting team will next compete in San Marcos on Feb. 22, with the boys competing the following week in Del Valle on Feb. 29.