Lady Lions defeat Lady Ducks

Friday, Feb. 4, vs. Taylor
Varsity

The Lady Lions traveled to Taylor on Friday, Feb 4, to take on the Lady Ducks in an important District 26-4A contest for both teams. Taylor and Lockhart battled for sole possession of fourth place. “Parents” night” for the Lady Ducks made for an emotionally charged basketball game from the players and fans alike.
“What a

great opportunity to play for fourth place outright and have a chance to do that on the road,” said Head Coach David Johnston.
The game started off with the rivaling teams trading baskets. Both teams scored 10 points. Lockhart received five points from senior post Whitney Winn to start off her game total of 13 points. Sophomore guard Ka”Tina Green made three points and junior post Noelle Marquina made two points from a put back opportunity in the middle of the first quarter.
“It was important that we were in the game from the beginning. We wanted to keep the crowd out of the game as much as possible,” said Johnston.
In the second quarter, the momentum swung to the home team as the
Lady Ducks went on a 19-14 scoring run. Sophomore guard Andrea
Carter hit an outside shot from the right wing while Adrian Carter hit one of two free throws as Lockhart traded baskets with the Ducks early in the second quarter.
“As soon as we would get a one or two point lead, Taylor would come right back with a huge basket,” said Johnston.
Winn, Marquina and Green each grabbed five rebounds for the game. Venoris Carter grabbed a rebound as well.
Down by five points at the top of the third quarter, Lockhart clawed their way back into the game.
Senior guard SueRe”esa Williams hit a three-pointer and added a nice lay-up to her game high of 22 points. Winn and Tara Chapman added three points to close the five-point lead making the score 33-32 in favor of Taylor.
“We tightened up defensively and only allowed four points in the quarter. Holding them to just one field goal in the quarter was tremendous,” said Johnston.
Taylor regained the lead and held on to it for most of the fourth quarter. However, the lead never got above three points. Lockhart, never feeling any pressure or panic, continued to work hard on every possession.
“We really felt confident, we never felt desperation or panic. This team has played so cool under pressure all year long. We just know that we are going to make the plays to win the game and get the “W”,” said Johnston.
With just over 1:30 to play, Winn drove the baseline and hit a lay-up to tie the game at 43. Taylor did not score on the ensuing possession and Lockhart had control of the ball with 1:11 left on the clock.
Williams drove to the right and drew the defense towards her then reversed the ball to Chapman. Chapman then calmly buried a three-point shot with 45 seconds to play giving Lockhart a 46-43 lead.
“Chappy stepped up and hit a huge shot with the game on the line. I”m really proud of her,” said Johnston.
Taylor hit two free throws and cut the lead to one. Williams was then fouled with 34 seconds left. Williams stepped up to the line and sank the two free throws to extend the lead back to 3.
Taylor scored quickly and once again fouled to stop the clock. Much to their dismay, Williams made a return trip to the line. The senior answered the call and put the Ducks away from the free-throw line. Williams ended shooting 100 percent from the line in the game. The Lady Lions went into Taylor”s house and got the 52-48 victory. The win gave the Lady Lions a fourth place district finish.
“Wow… what a super performance by all involved and getting the “W” on the road is so sweet,” said a jubilant Coach Johnston.

J.V.

The Lady Lions” junior varsity team struggled from the tip-off and throughout the game against the Taylor Lady Ducks on Friday, Feb. 4.
Lockhart opened with a 3-point quarter. Two points came from Camille Burrhus-Clay and the other from a free throw by Jenee Burrhus-Clay.
Down 13-3 at the start the second, Lockhart continued to find it hard to put the ball in the basket. Ceci Smith added two points and C. Burrhus-Clay hit four free throws.
On the boards the Lady Lions were led by the sisters, Camille had 12 and Jenee had 11, while Smith grabbed 10 rebounds. However, Taylor extended the lead to 12 points at half-time with 21-9 on the scoreboard.
The Lady Lions made two points from Aly Daily, one basket from Janie Juarez and four points from J. Burrhus-Clay. Lockhart was outscored 9-7 in the quarter.
The Lady Lions made a final push at the Taylor Ducks to try and get the momentum. Daily hit a three-point shot, Smith added three free throws and C. Burrhus-Clay added three points. However, the Lady Ducks matched Lockhart basket for basket.
Taylor outscored Lockhart 13-12 in the last quarter causing Lockhart to fall by a score of 43-28.
C. Burrhus-Clay made a double-double statistic with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman

The Lady Lions” freshman team came out hot against the Taylor Lady Ducks on Friday, Feb. 4.
In the first quarter, Natalie Briceno, Quandalyn Brite, Jaimie Ruiz and Elizabeth Johnson combined for eight points. Defensively, the Lady Lions held Taylor to just three points. Oriana Puentes and Zaida Hager forced turnovers with steals.
During the second quarter, Taylor cut Lockhart”s lead with a 12-8 scoring output. Teie Harris grabbed two rebounds. Shaundalyn Brite pulled down five rebounds in the quarter to add to her 13-rebound total.
The momentum swung quickly in the third quarter when Taylor scored nine points from three-pointers. They also converted on a couple of transition opportunities to take a 14-point lead before the Lady Lions could cut the lead back to 11 to end the quarter.
Trailing 31-20 to start the final period, Lockhart went on a tremendous scoring run of their own. Led by Hager”s seven points in the quarter, Lockhart chipped away at the Taylor lead. Ruiz added five points, Johnson scored four and the Lady Lions were back in the lead.
Lockhart tied the game up with 30 seconds remaining and forced Taylor to take a bad shot.
With 10 seconds remaining, the Lady Lions had a chance to win or play for overtime. Lockhart moved into its offense but misfortune struck when a pass went awry. With less than one second remaining, the ball went out of bounds. Taylor called a timeout to set up a play. Lockhart defended well until a Lady Duck took a desperation half-court shot that bounced off the glass and went through.
“Our girls played so hard and so great and to lose like that is almost too much,” stated coach Peggy Cadena.
Hager finished with a double-double statistic, 11 points and 14 rebounds.

February 1, vs Connally

Varsity

The Lady Lions” varsity team played host to the No. 3 State Ranked team in Texas, the Connally Lady Cougars, on Tuesday, Feb. 1, at the Lions Den.
“The Basketball Band and the Lionettes were on hand and once again proved to be awesome for the players, coaches and fans,” Johnston said.
The Lady Lions came out strong and took an early 5-4 lead over Connally. Lockhart held Connally at bay for the first couple of minutes of the game. However, Connally showed why they are one of the best teams in Region 4. The Cougars came alive using an inside-outside game strategy that gave them a 17-5 run over Lockhart to end the quarter.
The second quarter turned out the same for Lockhart as the Lady Cougars forced an up-tempo game.
“We did an excellent job of making them play,” said Johnston. “We got to them and I don”t think they expected that.”
Senior guard Tara Chapman scored five points in the quarter. Freshman post Mariah Carter came off the bench and gave Lockhart some great minutes.
“Mariah has really worked hard and continues to get better every day. She has a great attitude and desire to go after the rebound,” said Johnston.
Carter led the team with four rebounds. The quarter ended with the Lady Lions trailing 42-19 at the half.
Connally continued to press in the third quarter and changed their defensive strategy as Lockhart battled to get back into the game.
“We didn”t adjust to their changes as quickly as I would have hoped and we gave up some transition opportunities. However, once we settled in, we attacked the half-court trap pretty well,” said Johnston.
Senior post Whitney Winn led the team with two assists. Sophomore guard Andrea Carter came off the bench and contributed with an assist and offensive rebound.
Down 69-23 at the start of the fourth, the Lady Lions did not let up while continuing to fight for every possession.
“I can”t tell you how proud I am of the girls tonight. We were not intimidated and we played hard,” said Johnston.
Junior posts, Noelle Marquina and Zenaida Rubio rotated in and contributed four and two points respectively.
“Z hit two free-throws and grabbed a board. She makes a contribution when she gets on the floor,” said Johnston.
Andrea Carter hit a pull-up jumper off the glass. Guards, Venoris Carter and Adrian Carter, also came in off the bench to help play some aggressive defense and came up with a steal and rebound. The Lady Lions scored 10 points in the final quarter which brought the score to 79-33, in favor of Connally.
The Lady Lions” 33 points matched the most points scored against Connally in district play.
“We are very proud of the fact that we scored 33 against them,” said Johnston.
(Courtesy of David Johnston)