It’s hard to believe, but as the calendar turns to December, district basketball is already underway for certain districts across the Texas Panhandle and South Plains. With nine-team leagues formed, girls district action has begun with 3-5A and 2-3A getting underway on Tuesday night. In those openers, Amarillo High hosted Palo Duro, Tascosa took on Plainview and Idalou battled Shallowater.

District 3-5A

Amarillo High holds off Palo Duro

From just the opening night of District 3-5A play, it looks as though this district could be wide open by the time February rolls around.

In the first of two meetings on the year, Amarillo High was able to fend off a much improved Palo Duro team to get a 42-39 victory to open league action with a win.

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The Lady Sandies move to 9-2 overall and 1-0 in the district while the Lady Dons suffer their first loss on the year at 9-1 and are now 0-1.

A youthful and very talented Palo Duro team had AHS on the ropes in the first half, holding an 18-16 lead at the break. The Lady Dons maintained the lead in the third quarter up 30-25, until a Lady Sandies rally in the fourth quarter. AHS point guard Tyler Held help lead that comeback, scoring six of her team-high 12 points in that final frame.

AHS teammate Keanu Allen followed with 11, including knocking down three 3-pointers in the first half. Ella Brown added nine points, all in the second half.

Palo Duro’s Braya Smith poured in a team-high 10 points with D’Zyire Burks and Zeinab Deng chipping in with seven.

Tascosa handles Plainview

The Tascosa Lady Rebels are locked and loaded to start district play behind a veteran team and it showed, as the Lady Rebels rolled by Plainview 78-28 to open 3-5A play at home Tuesday night.

Tascosa jumped out to a 15-4 lead after one, and built at 31-9 lead by the half to set the tone.

The Lady Rebels used balance scoring throughout the contest to get the victory with four players landing in double figures. Alex Carter led the way, posting a game-high 20 for Tascosa. Teammate Nic’Kiyah Fisher went for 17, Devaeh Johnson followed with 16 and Kenzee Dickson added 10.

Tascosa is off to a hot start on the year at 10-0 while moving to 1-0 in district action. Plainview drops to 5-4 overall and 0-1.

Lubbock Coronado stuns Lubbock Monterey

In the biggest surprise Tuesday, Lubbock Coronado was able to stun UIL Class 5A Division II defending state champion, Lubbock Monterey, in a wild District 3-5A opener, as the Lady Mustangs earned a huge 50-49 win.

The Lady Mustangs push their overall mark to 3-7 overall but are more importantly 1-0 in league play. The Lady Plainsman are now shockingly 0-1 in district and 7-4.

Gracelyn Lota paced Coronado with four 3-pointers finishing with a team-high 14 points. Teammate Kamrun Hill chipped in with 11. Monterey’s Ambrosia Cole did all she could pouring in a game-high 29 points.

Caprock picks up road win at Lubbock High

The Caprock Lady Longhorns went on the road and picked up a huge road win to open District 3-5A play by downing Lubbock High 53-46 on Tuesday night.

The Lady Longhorns have started the season off on the right foot at 6-3 overall and are now 1-0 in district action. With the loss, the Lady Westerners drop to 1-8 overall and 0-1.

Caprock was able to pull away when it counted behind the performance of Santana Garner. Garner had been averaging 19 points during non-district play, but was able to light up LHS for a game-high 24 points on Tuesday night. Complimenting Garner was her teammates Taty Price and Mariah Mejia. Price also landed in double-digits with 11 and Mejia added eight points.

District 2-3A

District 2-3A also got underway with four girls’ games on Tuesday night. Highlighting the action was a battle of two of the top teams in Shallowater and Idalou.

In this first meeting between two of the better Class 3A teams, the Fillies got the better of the Lady Wildcats, 37-31, in the league opener. Shallowater improves to 5-3 on the season and 1-0 in district. Idalou is now 9-3 overall and 0-1.

Linley Wright paced Shallowater with 13 points, going 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. Teammate Keelie Williams added seven points, including four in the final frame.

Idalou’s Presli Wall had a team-high 11 and Karsyn Lutrick tallied seven.

Friona also opened district with a convincing win by beating Lubbock Talkington 84-14 on Tuesday. The Squaws (4-3) are now 1-0 in the league while Talkington (1-8) slips to 0-1. In the win, Friona’s Aaliyah Padilla had a huge game scoring a team-high 29 points. Teammate Annison Steelman followed with 15.

In two other district scores from Tuesday, Muleshoe defeated Dimmitt 45-25, and Slaton handled Lubbock Roosevelt 83-29.