Although Natalia and Lytle had faced off for the previous four years in non-district basketball action, none of those battles truly matched up to last week’s 30-3A battle at Natalia High School Gym. A record crowd was on hand, as it was standing room only to see the match-up between the black and gold and the blue and white.
This was a close four quarter battle and in the end, missed opportunities and turnovers proved to be the difference for the Natalia Lady Mustangs who dropped their second straight district contest.
“The girls fought hard and stayed in the game, but we could not get enough going offensively in the end,” Natalia Head Coach Doug Lum said.
It was a close battle as mentioned early and often, as Lytle was able to hold a 12-11 edge on Natalia after one quarter of action. Jelli Padilla led the Lady Mustangs offensively with seven of the eleven points, as a total of five Lady Pirates pitched in offensively in their opening action.
In the 2nd quarter, Natalia went ice cold offensively, as they were outscored 8-3 allowing Lytle to take a 20-14 lead into the half.
Natalia turned up the momentum a bit in the 3rd quarter, as they forced a few turnovers and held a 7-6 offensive edge in the quarter. This resulted in a 26-21 lead going into the 4th quarter.
The girls in blue nailed a total of three 3-pointers in the 4th to spark the offense, but it was not enough as Lytle held on for a 45-33 victory over the Lady Mustangs.
Scoring Leaders Natalia: Padilla 13, Destiny Zapata 6, Raven Sanchez 6, Angie Zapata 3.
Scoring Leaders Lytle: Nixon 21, Medina 12, Frias 3, Keith 3, Mask 3.
By Eric Smith