Lady Rebels Ease by Lady Lions

Lovelady Falls to Evadale, 66-64

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter 

CROCKETT – The Lovelady Lady Lions and the Evadale Lady Rebels hooked up for a pre-Christmas basketball game in Crockett on Friday afternoon, Dec. 22. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Lovelady but because of work being done to the Lady Lions home court the game was shifted to Crockett ISD’s Andrew J. Hopkins Dome.

The Lady Lions came into the game ranked #14 in the latest TABC Class 2A poll while the Lady Rebels were unranked. For the majority of the contest, Lovelady held Evadale at bay. A strong fourth quarter from the Lady Rebs, however, coupled with poor free throw shooting (11 of 25) from Lovelady allowed them to overtake the Lady Lions and escape Crockett with a 66-64 win.

As the game got underway, Lovelady’s Skye Watts showed off her range as she drilled a trio of three-pointers for nine points in the first eight minutes of play. Hannah Burleson chipped in four and Kaiden LeMaire added three to help give the Lady Lions a 16-11 lead after one.

The Lady Rebels were led in first quarter scoring by Michaela Terry who scored five points while a triad of Evadale players – LeeAnna Bishop, Emylea Cole and Alexis Price – all had two to account for the Lady Rebs first quarter point production.

In the second quarter, LeMaire paced the Lady Lions with six points. Watts added five, Madelyn James had three and Burleson had one to push the halftime score to 31-24, in favor of Lovelady.

Terry continued her hot shooting for Evadale as she added six to her total. Lauren Bruce dropped in five and Bishop had two as the teams headed into the locker at the end of the half.

Following the break, Watts caught fire for Lovelady. She was three-for-three from behind the arc and added four additional points from the field for a total of 13 points in the third. James had two and Jala Rollo broke into the scoring column with two as the Lady Lions pushed their lead to nine after three periods of play.

The Lady Rebs kept the game from getting out-of-hand by also using the three-pointer. Bruce drained a pair and Shelbey Hobbs connected on one. Terry dropped in four points from the field while Price had two to make the score 48-39 after three.

Down by nine, Evadale started to chip away at the Lovelady lead. Just as Watts owned the third quarter for Lovelady, Terry owned the fourth quarter for Evadale. She dropped in 11 points for the Lady Rebs while Bruce had seven and Cole had six. Hobbs closed out the scoring for Evadale with a three as the Lady Rebs overcame the deficit to win by a score of 66-64.

James dropped in six for the Lady Lions to lead Lovelady in the final period of play. Burleson, Heather Elliott, LeMaire, Sarah Thompson and Watts all had two for Lovelady, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

For the game, the Lady Rebels were led in scoring by Michaela Terry with 26 and Lauren Bruce with 18 points. Emylea Cole went for eight, Shelbey Hobbs had six, LeeAnna Price had four and Alexis Price also added four to account for the Evadale point production.

The Lady Lions were led by Skye Watts with a game high 29 points. Madelyn James and Kaiden LeMaire both dropped in 11, Hannah Burleson had seven and a trio of Lovelady players – Heather Elliott, Jala Rollo and Sarah Thompson – all had two.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].