After dropping a pair of games to Stephenville and Abilene Wylie over the Thanksgiving break, the Aledo Ladycats varsity returned to their winning ways on Tuesday, Nov. 28, with a dominant 47-30 win over Sanger.
“I thought we did a much better job of getting into our offense,” Ladycats head coach Nikki Hyles said after the game. “We took care of the ball well. Our decision making was good. We pushed the ball in transition better than we have. I’m really pleased with that.”
Scoring started off slow for both squads in the first quarter. Caroline Browning got the Ladycats on the board with a close jumper on Aledo’s opening possession. A minute later Ella Isbell picked the pocket of a Sanger player, drove down the floor on a fast break, and capped off the play with an easy layup to put the home team up 4-0 with 6:50 left in the first quarter.
The scoring well ran dry for both teams for several minutes until Brooklyn Dempsey knocked down the first three-pointer of the game for the Ladycats with 1:21 left in the opening quarter to increase Aledo’s lead to 8-2.
Unwilling to let the home team get too far out in front, the Lady Indians went on a 7-1 run to close out the opening stanza as they walked the Ladycats down. Sanger’s Hope Hughey drained a three-pointer at the buzzer as the visiting team cinched the score at 9-9 to close out the opening frame.
In the second quarter, Aledo’s point guard Elizabeth Griffin found her stride. The sophomore led an offensive onslaught, scoring seven of the Ladycats’ 15 second-quarter points. Griffin started off the quarter with a mid-range jumper in the lane to put the home team up 11-9. Minutes later she knocked down her first three of the game to break another tie with the score at 14-11. She capped off her second-quarter performance with a gorgeous give-and-go, feeding Kinley Elms by the free-throw line, who immediately passed the ball back to Griffin, leaving her defender in the dust as she played an easy layup off the glass.
As the first half came to a close, the Ladycats held a comfortable 24-16 lead.
In the second half Griffin was dialed in from long range. Aledo worked the ball high and low around the perimeter, creating opportunities for their guards to get open looks at the basket. Griffin took full advantage of every open look she got from beyond the arch, draining four three-pointers in the second half as she led the scoring for both teams with 19 points in the game.
The Ladycats outpaced Sanger 14-7 in the third quarter to go up by 15, 38-23. From there, Aledo took the opportunity to get some actionable minutes for bench players before starting district play in December. The Ladycats outpaced Sanger once again in the fourth quarter, 9-7, to put a 17-point win in the books.
“For as young as they are, they’re making great decisions,” Hyles said of her first-year varsity players. “Liz (Griffin) had a fantastic game. She was 5-of-7 from the three. We moved the ball well, and we found her. We had some great opportunities to go inside out, so she was out there with her feet set ready to shoot.”
The one aspect of the game that didn’t go as well as Aledo would’ve liked was at the free-throw line. On the night, the Ladycats shot just 50-percent (7-for-14) from the stripe.
“We’ve been struggling from the free-throw line,” Hyles admitted. “We’ve got to find some time to get more free throws in. We’ve got some thinkers on the team. I think if they will just relax, their mechanics are good. We’ve just got to get out of our heads.”
The Ladycats will compete in the Burleson Tournament, starting with a pair of games on Thursday. They’ll play a pool play format on Thursday and Friday before getting into bracket play on Saturday.
Ladycats vs. Sanger – Nov. 28
Aledo 9 15 14 9 - 47
Sanger 9 7 7 7 - 30
Aledo scoring: Elizabeth Griffin 19, Brooklyn Dempsey 9, Kinley Elms 7, Caroline Browning 5, Brenna Clock 4, Ella Isbell 2, Natalie Anderson 1.
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