Lady Pirates Regional Semi Final Champs

The Lady Pirates scrapped past Karnes City on Tuesday and beat London on Friday night to turn around and play in the Regional Finals on Saturday! Their season ended there when they lost to Bishop 31-63. This team of Lady Pirates were the first team to make it to the Regional Tournament and the Final Four. Making it this far into playoffs is no easy feat and all of Lytle is proud of how hard this team has work.
Earning the titles ofBack-to-Back District Champs and was first team to do that by winning outright and not sharing,Bi District Champs, Area Champs,Regional Quarterfinal, Regional Semi Final Champs Sweet 16, andRegional Runner Up for Conference 3A Elite 8 one game away from state tourney.This team was the first Lady Pirate team to make it to the Regional Quarter Finals, the Sweet 16, and the Elite 8!The Lady Pirates were 28-10 overall record and 14-2 in district.
Playing Karnes City again, the Lady Pirates had to work extra hard against the team that knew their plays. Squeaking out the win at 68-65, Lytle took the lead early in the first at 16-10 but Karnes City was on fire in the second and out shot Lytle 23-10. The third quarter was a draw with both teams scoring 19 each. The fourth quarter was a Lady Pirate power show. They held Karnes to 13 points and scored 23 points for the 68-65 win.
“The Legacy gym was packed with Lytle fans screaming and cheering the girls on! It helped us take the lead late in the 4th with about 2:30 left. We had trailed the whole second half then our defense kicked in with three quick steals from our press for layups. Fizz Hutton hit a big three, Cadee Martinez made an off balance shot and Calyssa Sevier with a big 3 to seal the deal and defeat Karnes City 68-65. This was another great TEAM win for the Program and the Lytle Community,” recapped Coach Lori Wilson.
Stats: Calyssa Sevier 34 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals. Cadee Martinez 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Katara Whitfield 1 point, 3 rebounds. Nicole Godines 2 rebounds, 5 assists.Amelia Martinez 2 points, 1 rebound. Fizz Hutton 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 steals, 1 block. Sofia Hutton 2 points, 3 rebounds. Q1 16-10, Q2 26-33, Q3 45-52, Q4 68-65.
Friday night at the Regional Semi-Finals, Lytle faced London and won 62-44 to earn the title of Regional Semi-Final Champions! “Our defense and transition game was our best all season. The guards from London just could not handle the pressure. We had 14 steals and created 15 turnovers. We grabbed 34 rebounds and did a great job keeping London out of the paint,” said the proud Coach Wilson.

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Stats: Sevier with a double-double 32 points, 4/4 from free throw line, 14 rebounds, 3 assist, 4 steals, 4 deflections, and was named MVP of the game by Rio Sports Live! Hutton double-double 17 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assist, 6 steals, 4 deflections. Martinez 13 points, 4/5 free throw line, 3 rebounds, 1assist, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 1 deflection, 1 charge. Whitfield 1 deflection, 1 rebound, 1 steal. Godines 1 rebound, 2 assist,and played great defense. Martinez played great defense 2 rebounds, 2 assist. Hutton 2 rebounds. Scotello 2 rebounds. Garcia played good defense. Diaz handled the point last minutes of the game. Reyes was a great teammate off the court.
After just a couple hours of rest, the Lady Pirates turned the bus around and traveled back to Seguin to face Bishop. Bishop took command of the game and the Lady Pirates fell 31-61 and ended their season as one of the final eight 3A teams in the state!“We came out and we were within 10 points 26-16 but we just missed a lot of shots and I know fatigue was a factor from pressing the entire game on Friday night. We could just not stop Bishop they were bigger and our press just was not effective on them,” added Coach Wilson.
Stats provided by Coach Wilson: Calyssa Sevier 24 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 deflections, 3 charges (season high). She scored 147 points in the playoff run.Cadee Martinez 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 deflection, 2 steals, 2 blocks,and was clutch on our playoff run.Fizz Hutton 3 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 8 deflections, 1 steal, 1 block, and her defense brought great energy during the playoff run.Nicole Godines 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and went out a senior making history.Amelia Martinez 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and always was the quiet player that did great things on defense. Katara Whitfield 1 rebound and was our big guarding the paint.Sofia Hutton 2 rebounds went out a senior making history and was great for us in the paint.Kaylee Diaz was great for us when called upon all year. Rose Scotello never played basketball until this year and improved so much in the short time we had her.Arianna Garcia is only a freshmen and next year will be great for us.Lunna Reyes another freshmen will use this experience to help the team next year.
Coach Lori Wilson’s final thoughts on this amazing season: “We were one game away from the State Tournament! These girls worked so hard all summer and for the last 5 months October to almost March! They have represented their school, community and families with Pride! I do not think they really grasp all that they have accomplished. I do not think people realize how hard it is to get everything to fall into place making every piece fit. We had our ups and downs but it only made them stronger they were not only a team but a family. We will miss our two seniors Nicole Godines and Sofia Hutton and we will welcome back 9 players from this team!
Thank you to Coach Mason, Coach Tilley and Coach Jones without all of you none of this is possible. Thank you Ada if people only knew how much you really do I am blessed to have you!!Thank you to transportation especially Armando, along with Cowboy! Cafeteria staff, ADMIN, the Principals and VPs at all the schools for all the send offs. The Jr. High PE classes with Coach Clark and Cordero! All the teachers that followed us, the cheerleaders and sponsors along with band and drum line! To the coaches and their kind words throughout the season. Kathy, Laura Martinez, Aurora, Sissy, Dora and Sonia for your patience. Thanks to Coach Hernandez and his staff and basketball team they were at every playoff game cheering us on! Lorri and Dale for always getting what we need. Thank you to Bri McDonald she had made all our posters for our pictures after every win!
Big shout out to all the Basketball parents and grandparents the constant support was amazing!Lastly the Mayor of Lytle Mr. Gonzalez he rocks he went above and beyond for us!! Along with LPD and Katelyn Banks.I’m sure I forgot someone but it really was everyone in our Community that made it the Historic season it was!
As I told myself Saturday night Don’t Cry because it is OVER Cry because it happened!! We will back next year!!!We cannot thank everyone enough for all the support Friday night the stands were full it was overwhelming the support the Lytle community showed. From the sendoffs to the return with all the parents and fans with police escort back into town was unreal.”
By Dicy Chambers
Sports Writer