Ladycats fall just short of area-round title

The Aledo Ladycats basketball team entered its area round playoff contest against the Joshua Lady Owls with confidence. Coming off a dominant 48-21 win over Colleyville Heritage in the bi-district round, the Ladycats were aiming for their first trip to the third round since the 2015-16 season, but were denied in the closing seconds by Joshua, who ended Aledo’s season Thursday (Feb. 19) night by a final score of 33-31 at Godley High School.

“It hurts because we definitely are better than they are,” Ladycats head coach Donnie Ott said. “We held them to their third-lowest scoring total of the year through 38 games, with Cleburne holding them under 33 points each time they played, and we still lost. We just picked the wrong time to shoot 23 percent and 18 percent inside the 3-point line. When you hold a team to 33 points, you should win every time. I’m okay with losing, but I hate that it ended this way.”

Ladycats junior Kate Jackson got Aledo on the board nine seconds into the game with a wide open layup and senior guard Jaylee Owens’ driving layup with 4:44 left put Aledo in front 4-2. Then, Joshua responded with a 9-4 that forced Aledo into a timeout call with 1:41 to go. Joshua took its 9-4 lead into the second quarter, but Aledo began to find its rhythm.

Junior forward Kennedy Cardenas found senior guard Elizabeth Griffin in the corner for a much-needed 3-pointer that pulled Aledo to within 9-7 with 7:23 left before halftime. On its next offensive possession, senior post Tiara Butler – who faced double and triple teams the entire game – gathered two offensive rebounds that eventually led to another 3-pointer from Griffin, who put Aledo ahead 10-9 with 5:36 left.

Junior guard Brooklyn Dempsey kept Aledo’s good fortunes going with a nice scoring drive to the basket with 4:43 left, and Griffin knocked down another triple with 2:37 remaining to extend the lead to 15-9. After the Lady Owls converted a three-point play, Dempsey responded with her own make from long range at the 1:50 mark and she put back a miss with 39 seconds remaining to keep Aledo ahead 20-16 at halftime intermission.

While points came at a premium, the Lady Owls managed to tie the score at 21-all with a tying 3-pointer at the 4:10 mark, but Dempsey found Griffin for another 3-pointer with 3:06, keeping Aledo in front 24-21. The teams traded buckets entering the fourth quarter with Aledo holding onto a 26-23 advantage.

The teams wrestled for the lead until Joshua surged ahead 31-28 on a 5-0 run with under four minutes remaining. Eventually, Aledo was forced to begin fouling Joshua’s players to extend the game. With a 32-28 lead, Owens banked in a 3-pointer from the left wing with nine seconds left in regulation, cutting Joshua’s lead to 32-31 in the process. The Lady Owls split a pair of free throws for a 33-31 advantage, but Aledo’s last-second 3-point attempt came up just short.

Griffin led the way with 12 points while Dempsey and Owens contributed with seven points apiece.

The Ladycats (25-9, 12-0) won the district for the first time since the 2018-19 season and will see seniors Butler, Griffin, Owens, Brenna Clock, and Mesoma Emeka-Okoye all graduate at the end of the school year.