Last week the Lady Pirates hit three milestones, they beat #7 Poth, finished the first half of district 7-1, and one Lady Pirate hit a huge goal.
Lytle is now tied for first with Poth and Karnes City. Lytle was supposed to face West Campos on Tuesday January 11, but that game has been postponed to January 24th with only the varsity playing at 5:00pm.
Winning the tip off, Lytle ran their offense and pulled out the defenders to open a lane for Cadee Martinez to drive in and score plus she was fouled. Martinez sank the free-throw to put Lytle into the early led. Poth likes running the plays along the base line and they were not able to sink their shots, but they drew the fouls when they missed. Lytle led in the first until about the three-minute mark when the teams tied up at 8-8. C. Martinez stole the ball from Poth on a pass and pushed down court where she was fouled and put Lytle back on top with a free-throw. This gave Lytle the momentum they needed to force Poth to make a mistake and Lytle took the ball back down court for a basket. Poth struggled to get back to their end with Calyssa Sevier knocking the ball out of Poth’s hands and back to C. Martinez for another basket and a free-throw. Now up 16-10 with the quarter ending, Poth attempted to run their offense, but Sevier broke in to steal the ball once again and earned one handed lay-up
Leading 18-10 to start the second, Poth’s zone defense was tough to penetrate but C. Martinez found a hole and scored. An outside jumper from Amelia Martinez put Lytle up 22-12. With a block from Katara Whitfield, A. Martinez drove in to score. Hands up and going for the rebounds, on the defensive end, Whitfield went to the ground with a Poth player in a jump ball. Up 30-16, Poth’s under the basket play kept failing them. Travels and turnovers kept putting the ball back into Lytle’s hands which turned into points. Less than 10 seconds left, a quick pass to Whitfield led to a basket and free-throw. Lytle ended the half up 36-20.
To open the second half, Sevier stole just past half court and with two defenders on her she stopped short and sank a basket. Lytle continued to press hard and had their hands in every play, stopping passes and causing turn overs. Under the Poth basket, Sevier blocked a jump shot and got the ball back down court. An inbound play under the Lytle basket put the ball in to Fizz Hutton’s hands for a nice jumper at the top of the key. Now up 43-30, Poth increased the defensive pressure and turned a few turnovers into points, but also into trouble with 8 fouls. Less than a minute left, A. Martinez tied the ball up on the floor to put the ball back into Lytle’s possession and ended the quarter with a basket from Whitfield off a rebound. Lytle continued to dominate 47-32.
First points of the quarter came on a break-away layup from C. Martinez followed by many more baskets on lay-ups. At the five-minute mark, Lytle led 53-36 over a tiring Poth team. With the ball on Lytle’s end, a bad pass sent C. Martinez diving for the ball and Coach Lori Wilson made the smart move to call a quick time out so Lytle would not lose the ball. Still up 53-40, the Lady Pirates continued to push hard on offense and sinking free-throws every chance they got. Two minutes left, a quick pass from Sevier led to a basket from Whitfield. A jumper from Poth made the score 59-44. Another pass from Sevier to Whitfield ended with another basket. Poth sank another three-pointer from in front of their bench. Running the Lytle offense, C. Martinez drove in for two. Poth finally got hot with another jumper, 61-49. Less than 30 seconds left, a scramble put the ball into C. Martinez’s hands for the last lay-up of the game. Lytle beat the #7 team in Texas 63-49.
“We played great defense and put pressure on their guards. The girls played with a lot of heart and hustle tonight and was the team I know they can be all the time. I was pleased with the discipline they showed late in the 4th keeping the lead. Thanks that was a big one for us. We had control of the game from the start with our defense creating 16 steals and converting 22 points off their turnovers. We scored 46 points in the paint for the night. Our transition game looked at its best last night scoring 16 points. This was a great TEAM win and the girls looked like the team I know they are. I remember telling Coach Mason and Coach Tilley about the 2nd quarter C. Martinez is on fire and when I got the actual stats this morning, boy was I right! Every game these girls know their roles will be different and they adjust to what is best for the TEAM and that is what I love about them,” said the Proud coach Lori Wilson.
Lytle vs Poth stats: C. Martinez had a season high 33 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals! Sevier had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 deflections, 6 steals. Whitfield came off the bench and had her best game with a season high 10 points, 5 points, 1 steal. Hutton had 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block. A. Martinez had 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 deflection, 2 steals. Arianna Garcia gave us some positive minutes on defense. Rose Scotello and Kaylee Diaz played a great role as teammates from the bench. Q1 18-10, Q2 36-20. Q3 47-32.
Playing the Dilley Wolves on Friday night, the Lady Pirates started with a tip off from Dilley. Lytle’s first point came from a free-throw by Sevier. The Lady Pirates struggled with shooting but their press and defense kept Dilley from their half of the court. Lytle quickly added four points to the board when C. Martinez scored from the key and was fouled and off the rebound Sevier snagged the ball from Dilley and scored. The Wolves finally got onto the board with a basket and a free-throw just after the first three minutes had passed.
Starting the second quarter up 24-3, to press the Wolves. Lytle was able to stop every down court drive with a steal or forcing errors by the Wolves. In double bonus, Lytle did not slacken up on the tiring Wolves, but kept playing hard. Between the free throws and fast breaks off steals, Lytle ended the half 55-11.
To open the third, Hutton drove in and scored within the first fifteen seconds. Dilley would score the next three points. Set-up on the three-point line on a recovered ball from a bad Dilley pass, Sevier got a pass and sank a shot to hit 1,000 points as a Lady Pirate! Coach Wilson quickly called a time out with balloons brought on the court to celebrate. The shot by Sevier put the Lady Pirates up 60-14. After the short celebration, the Lady Pirates were back in the game and continued to push. With five minutes left, Lytle pulled back on the full-court press and still managed to stop Dilley from getting to the basket. Dilley’s first player to foul out was with just over three minutes left. With one player left on the bench, Dilley needed to watch their fouls. On the next play Whitfield was fouled while shooting, and Lytle was now up 68-17. Just over a minute in the third. Rose Scotello tied up the ball with a Wolf and the arrow gave Lytle the ball back. After running some of their offense, C. Martinez passed the ball to Kaylee Diaz, who turned and sank a jumper.
In the final quarter, Lytle started at 74-20 and with four fouls. Lytle pulled back even more on their press and were able to block Dilley out with their zone defense. The Lady Pirates continued to play hard and finished the game 82-25 for their seventh district win!
“What a Friday night for the girls…they finished the first round of district play by beating Dilley 82-25 and finished the first round 7-1 which makes us tied for 1st with Karnes City and Poth. We scored 27 points on transition compared to Dilley 0 and 36 points off Dilley turnovers. We had a season high 39 steals as a TEAM. We forced Dilley into 51 turnovers. The second round of play will be big for the girls for the postseason,” added Coach Wilson.
Stats: Calyssa Sevier with a double-double 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 deflections, and 12 steals! Cadee Martinez had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 deflections, 4 steals. Katara Whitfield had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 deflections, 2 steals. Fizz Hutton had 10 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 7 defections, 7 steals. Amelia Martinez had 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 defections, 3 steals. Kaylee Diaz had 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assist, 1 deflection, 5 steals. Arianna Garcia had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 deflections, 1 steal. Nicole Godines had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 deflections, 5 steals. Rose Scotello had 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist.
By Dicy Chambers
Sports Writer