Class 2A

Farwell outlasts Clarendon in heavy weight matchup

In a heavily anticipated matchup of 30-win teams, a packed house of fans at West Plains High School were treated to some great basketball in the form of Farwell vs. Clarendon battling in a Class 2A area round matchup on Friday night.

In the end, it was the No. 4-ranked Lady Blue pulling away from a very competitive Clarendon squad thanks to a 52-38 victory.

“Knowing the road, we had to take is difficult,” Farwell head coach Josh Jourden said.
“It’s a brutal draw getting a quality team like Clarendon in the second round. I feel like there are five really good teams in this region and two had to play each other in the second round. That shows you the depth of 2A, but fortunately we came away with the win.”

There were two key points that led Farwell to this win. To kick off the second quarter, the Lady Blue went on a 15-0 run going up 26-12. The Lady Broncos didn’t blink going on a 12-2 run of their own to pull within four by the half, trailing 30-26.

However, it was the final 25 seconds of the third quarter that was a gut punch to Clarendon. Down 37-34, Farwell made a very quick 5-0 run to steal the momentum for good when Landri Richey buried a 3-pointer from the left wing followed by an immediate steal that allowed Makylee Baldwin to get a layup and all of a sudden it was 42-34 heading into the final eight minutes.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Blue defense locked the Lady Broncos down holding Clarendon to four points to pull away for the W.

“We’re known for our defense,” said Jourden, whose team had over 10 blocks in the win. “We got on a great run, but they were able to get it together. We took control in the second half, especially that fourth quarter behind our defense.”

Baldwin posted a team-best 17 points as Bella Jaime tallied 10 for the Lady Blue.

Clarendon, which ends a tremendous year at 31-2, was led by Kenidee Hayes with 11.

Farwell (31-3) advances to the regional quarterfinals to play Floydada (27-3) at a time and place to be determined.

The Lady Whirlwinds edged two-time Region I champion Gruver in a very good game, 43-41, on Friday night.

The Lady Hounds end their season at 17-16.

Vega holds off late surge from Stratford

In a more shocking score from Friday night, the Vega Lady Longhorns held off a late charge from Stratford to defeat the Lady Elks 42-38 in a Class 2A area round game on Friday night at the Amarillo High Activity Center.

Vega and Stratford had a tight one heading into halftime with the Lady Longhorns holding a slight 20-19 advantage. In the third quarter, Vega was able to take over outscoring the District 1-2A champions 15-3 to go up 35-22. Stratford did its best to rally in the fourth, however, fell short.

Lucy Richards put up 12 points for Vega with Addison Bidegain and Jaz Martinez adding eight.

The Lady Longhorns (16-19) will get Wellington (26-6) in the regional quarterfinals at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Caprock Activity Center.

Class 5A

Tascosa tames El Paso Hanks 

Tascosa made a long drive to Andrews well worth it by coasting past El Paso Hanks 86-41 in a Class 5A area round game on Friday evening.

The Lady Rebels are now 25-6 overall and await a rematch of last year’s regional quarterfinal matchup against Lubbock-Cooper at a time and place to be determined. The Lady Pirates ended Tascosa’s season a year ago 58-55.

The Lady Rebels jumped out of the gates quick against Hanks (23-12) taking a 29-5 first quarter lead. From there, Tascosa continued to pour it on going up 54-16 by halftime.

Lady Rebel senior post player Avery Carter led all scorers with 20 points followed by teammate Devaeh Johnson’s 16.

Amarillo High beats up El Paso Bel Air

As expected, it was a quick day of work at the office for the Amarillo High Lady Sandies in the Class 5A area as they dismantled El Paso Bel Air 89-38 at the Andrews Gym.

The Lady Sandies improves to 34-4 and now await a highly anticipated showdown with Lubbock Monterey (31-5) in the regional quarterfinals at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Hutcherson Center on the campus of Wayland Baptist University in Plainview.

The Lady Sandies and Lady Plainsman had an unforgettable five-overtime thriller in this same round last season at a packed house in Littlefield with Monterey coming away with a 86-78 win.

AHS dominated Bel Air (25-5) from start to finish opening the game up 21-3 and taking a 53-12 advantage into halftime. Lady Sandie sharp-shooter Bella Edwards led all scorers with 20 points.

Class 4A

Randall rolls over El Paso Austin 

Randall is on its way to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs after rolling past El Paso Austin with ease, 70-21, on Thursday afternoon in Odessa.

The Lady Raiders weren’t given much of a challenge blowing the contest wide open in the first half thanks to a 37-10 halftime lead and putting it on cruise control the rest of the way.

Sensational scorer Sadie Sanchez dropped in a game-high 22 points with teammate Layla Romero following with 20.

Randall (27-8) now gets District 4-4A and Canyon ISD rival West Plains (27-8) in a very intriguing regional quarterfinal round matchup at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at the First United Bank Center in Canyon.

West Plains rallies past El Paso Riverside

Trailing for most of the contest, the West Plains Lady Wolves played lock down defense in the final quarter and get just enough offense to rally past a very talented El Paso Riverside squad 51-42 in the Class 4A area round on Friday in Seminole.

The Lady Wolves played from behind most of the night. Riverside, which ends its season at 31-2, trailed 28-22 at half and 39-36 entering the fourth quarter. However, the West Plains defense came alive in the final eight minutes holding the Lady Rangers without a field goal from the floor and only four points. The Lady Wolves were able to find their offense with a 15-point fourth quarter led by Piper Patterson who scored five of her 12 points in that fourth.

Teammate Dane’ja Agu-White scored 16 points to lead West Plains.

The Lady Wolves (27-8) get a date with arch-rival Randall (27-8) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. The two teams split the season series during District 4-4A play.

Canyon KO’s Clint 

The Canyon Lady Eagles handled business in a big way with a 66-27 thumping of Clint in the Class 4A area round in Andrews on Friday afternoon.

The tradition-rich Lady Eagles (26-6) are back in the regional quarterfinals where they will take on Seminole (31-4) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University.

Jaylee Moss was key in the blowout putting up a game-high 15 points. Ilana Hernandez chipped in with 12.

Class 3A

Canadian stays hot with win over Littlefield 

It was a tremendous week for the Canadian Lady Cats who have seemed to have caught fire since the postseason has begun.

Playing in an underdog type role, Canadian knocked off Abernathy 58-42 on Tuesday then followed that effort with a hard-fought 46-32 victory against District 3-3A champion Littlefield in a Class 3A area round contest on Friday night in Canyon.

Littlefield (23-7) had gone unbeaten through the district season at a perfect 12-0.

The two teams struggled to find points in the first half with Canadian taking a slim 17-15 lead into the break. The Lady Cats were able to kick out of their shooting funk in the third quarter scoring 17 points in those eight minutes to take a 34-24 lead and never trail again.

Kylie Cavalier had her second straight superb performance leading Canadian with 11 points. Teammate Samantha Krehbiel was right behind Cavalier with 10.

Canadian (23-11) advances to the regional quarterfinal round to battle Shallowater (23-12) for the third time in four years with tip time starting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the First United Bank Center in Canyon.

Spearman crushes Lamesa

Fresh off getting their first playoff win in 10 years, the Spearman Lynxettes are getting the hang of geting victories in the postseason.

Spearman used a huge second half to run away from Lamesa for a 60-17 win during a Class 3A area round game at the Tascosa Activity Center on Friday night.

After a sluggish two quarters, the Lynxettes led Lamesa 20-10, but Spearman woke up in the final two quarters outscoring the Lady Golden Tors 40-7 in the final 16 minutes to get the lopsided win.

Braylen Lusby, the West Texas A&M signee, scored a game-high 20 points including nine in the third alone. Teammate Vanelli Delgado added 14 and Lexi Klafka put up 12.

Spearman (26-5), the District 1-3A champion, will get a regional quarterfinal round date with District 2-3A champion, Idalou (29-5) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Amarillo High Activity Center.

Class 1A

Nazareth handles Follett

The Nazareth Swiftettes cruised in the Class 1A area round handling Follett in convincing fashion with a 76-12 win on Thursday night in White Deer.

The Swiftettes opened the game on a 19-5 run in the first quarter building that lead to 36-8 by halftime.

Brooklyn Birkenfeld was a menace for the Lady Panthers defense tallying a game-high 26 points with 15 of those coming in the first half. Teammate Tatum Peterson added 14 points and Harley Gerber went for 11.

Nazareth (23-10) is back in the regional quarterfinals and will take on Silverton (23-5) at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Caprock Activity Center. Follett ends its season at 15-10.

Silverton takes down Wildorado 

Silverton used a 13-0 first quarter run to set the tone for a 54-31 to help down Wildorado in a Class 1A area round matchup on Thursday night at the Joe Lombard Gymnasium at Canyon High School.

The Lady Owls (23-5) reach the regional quarterfinals for the first time in six years and will now battle Nazareth (23-10) at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Caprock Activity Center.

“This team was excited and ready to go,” Silverton head coach Janee Harrison said. “It’s huge for us to be in the third round. This team has worked hard for the past three years, and they’ve grown together. They work as a unit and support each other.”

Silverton ran away from Wildorado midway through the quarter. Leading 6-4, the sister combination of Brenna and Maddie Francis went on a scoring spurt that quickly put the Lady Owls in total control at 20-4 and they never looked back.

Brenna and Maddie scored all 32 of Silverton’s first half points and combined for 47 of the Lady Owls 54 points. Brenna finished with a massive outing pouring in 29 points with Maddie posting 18 on the evening.

Wildorado, the District 3-1A co-champions, end a great year at 22-8.

Valley knocks off Texline 

The No. 1-ranked Valley Lady Patriots keep on compiling wins this time rolling past Texline 45-24 thanks to a big second half during a Class 1A area round clash at West Plains High School on Friday night.

The Lady Patriots are now an impressive 34-2 overall and move on to take on McLean (27-3) in the regional quarterfinal at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Panhandle High School.

Valley and Texline had a competitive first half with the Lady Patriots 23-15 lead at halftime. In the second half, Valley settled down and pulled away outscoring the Lady Tornadoes 22-9 for the 45-24 win.

Lady Patriot standout post Trinity Schlueter did the damage against Texline scoring 15 points with 12 of those coming in the first two quarters. Reese Cruse did her part for Valley scoring nine points.

Texline ends a strong year at 26-8.

McLean squeaks past upset-minded Happy in final seconds 

McLean avoided a massive upset bid by the hands of the Happy Cowgirls by getting late game heroics to hold on for a 44-43 victory during a very thrilling Class 1A area round battle in Claude on Friday night.

The Lady Tigers led by as many as 12 taking a 29-17 lead into halftime only to see the Cowgirls chip away in the second half. By the end of three quarters it was 39-33 McLean and by the final minute of the contest the game was tied, 43-43, with under 20 seconds to play. That’s when McLean’s Anayah Salinas came up clutch getting a steal and getting fouled going in on a fastbreak with 5.7 seconds remaining. Salinas missed the first free-throw attempt but sank the second one to give the Lady Tigers the 44-43 lead and the big-time win.

Hailo Moon had a nice game for McLean posting a game-high 19 points with Kasidy Russell finishing with 12. Abby McCreary led the Cowgirls with 15.

McLean (27-3) moves on to square off with No. 1-ranked Valley (34-2) in the regional quarterfinals at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Panhandle High School.

Happy ends its year at 17-15.