Lovelady Thumps Latexo

Lady Lions Defeat Lady Tigers, 64-36

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

LATEXO – District play is well under way for the girls in District 20-AA and on Tuesday, Jan. 9, the Latexo Lady Tigers welcomed the Lovelady Lady Lions to Latexo for a district match-up.

While the Lady Tigers knew the Lady Lions were coming for a visit, the opening half of the game seemed as if Latexo was caught by surprise when Lovelady entered the gym.

The Lady Lions were red hot from the field while the Lady Tigers were ice cold. Latexo only scored three points in the first half which came on a three-pointer from Baylee Granberry in the second quarter.

Lovelady, meanwhile, jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the first eight minutes of play. Jala Rollo led the way with four points while Hannah Burleson had three. Both Brittani Gambill and Kaiden LeMaire converted one of two from the line to round out the Lady Lions point production in the first quarter.

Burleson took over the game as the second quarter unfolded and dropped 10 points in the period. Rollo and Sarah Thompson both netted four. After Latexo’s Granberry scored Latexo’s only three points of the half, the second quarter was closed out as LeMaire and Rajanae Polhamus dropped in two apiece to make the halftime score 31-3.

Following the break, Latexo played much better and actually outscored Lovelady by three points in the second half. After a quiet first half, Maggie Gibbins warmed up for the Lady Tigers as she dropped in eight points. Granberry and Kelsey Patterson both scored two to help make the score 46-15 at the end of the third quarter.

The Lady Lions used a balanced attack to widen their halftime lead with Madelyn James scoring six, Rollo dropping in five and LeMaire knocking down four.

With a 31-point lead, the Lady Lions began to milk the clock in the fourth quarter but still managed to score 18 points on six from Burleson and four from Rollo. Four other Lady Lions – Gambill, LeMaire, Polhamus and Jacy Stubblefield – all scored two as Lovelady won by a final of 64-36.

The Lady Tigers were led in the fourth quarter by Granberry with eight points and Gibbins with six. Kelsey Patterson dropped in four while Shelby Abshire knocked down a three-pointer to close out the Lady Tigers point production.

For the game, the Lady Lions were led in scoring by Hannah Burleson with 19 and Jala Rollo with 17 points. Kaiden LeMaire had nine, Madelyn James went for six, Rajanae Polhamus and Sarah Thompson netted four apiece, Brittani Gambill had three and Jacy Stubblefield dropped in two to account for the Lovelady points.

The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Maggie Gibbins with 14 and Baylee Granberry with 13 points. Kelsey Patterson added six and Shelby Abshire had three.

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