Ladycats seal district championship with 51-47 victory at Abilene Wylie

Aledo junior guard Riley Sale hit four consecutive free throws in overtime to lead the Ladycats to a 51-47 victory over the Abilene Wylie Lady Bulldogs in a key girls’ District 4-5A basketball game Tuesday night at Abilene Wylie High School.

The win gives the Ladycats a 6-0 district record as Aledo – which swept the league series over Wylie (5-2) –  has clinched the District 4-5A championship with two games remaining on the district schedule.

With the game tied 45-45 in overtime, senior post Maddie Shumway connected on a pair of free throws to give Aledo a 47-45 advantage. But seconds later Wylie came back with a pair from the charity stripe to tie the score at 47.

On Aledo’s ensuing possession, Sale was fouled driving the lane. She hit both charity shots to give the Ladycats a 49-47 lead with 38 seconds left in OT.

Wylie missed an excellent opportunity to tie the game after being fouled, but missed the front end of the one-and-one as Aledo grabbed the rebound. Sale was fouled, and she calmly swished both free throws to give Aledo a 51-47 lead with nine seconds left in OT.

Wylie missed its last shot as the buzzer sounded and the Ladycats stormed the floor to celebrate their district title.

Elizabeth Allanach scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Ladycats, with Audrey Pearce adding 11.

Wylie came out firing in the opening period, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to take a 9-3 lead that stretched to 18-10 after the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs went on a 7-2 run to begin the second quarter and led 25-15 at the half.

Aledo stormed out in the third period with a 12-3 run to cut Wylie’s lead to 28-27. Aledo ended the third quarter with a three-point bucket each by Allanach and Haley Herrin to take a 33-30 lead into the fourth period.

The Ladycats led 43-38 late in the fourth quarter, but Wylie went on a 5-0 run in the final minute to force overtime.

Also scoring for the Ladycats were Shumway with eight points, Sale with seven and Herrin with five.