AREA GIRLS HOOPS: Water Valley Upsets No. 21 Veribest in Rivalry Clash

VERIBEST, TX-- The Water Valley Lady Wildcats secured a dominant upset win over the no. 21-ranked  Veribest Lady Falcons in a rivalry clash on Tuesday by winning 52-35.

Both teams came out swinging in what felt like a championship bout. Water Valley's Kenzie Jordan kicked off a 4-0 run for Water Valley. Veribest matched that with 4-0 run of their own to tie the game at four.

Then Water Valley was able to edge out Veribest in the first on a 6-5 run to lead 10-9 after the first quarter, indicating the potential for a back-and-forth game.

Behind another six points from Jordan, Water Valley extended their lead to 20-16 going into halftime.

Out of halftime, Water Valley's offense found a new gear. Shelby Kohls hit a pair of three pointers and Brittany Sutton had one as Water Valley outscored Veribest 13-7 to move ahead to 33-23.

In the fourth quarter, Veribest found a rhythm, scoring 12 points behind Catlyn Ward's six points. However they had to foul Water Valley in order to try to get the ball back and the Lady Wildcats capitalized on that. During the fourth, Water Valley had 13 free throw attempts. They made nine of them to outscore Veribest 19-12 in the final frame and secure the win.

Jordan was the game-high scorer with 14 points. Kohls and Kalysta Minton-Holland each had eight points for Water Valley.

Ward was the Veribest's high scorer with 12 points.

Water Valley (11-7, 4-2) has a week off before starting the second round of district play on Jan. 15 at no. 10 Blackwell.

Veribest (15-5, 4-1) will look to rebound this Friday against no. 10 Blackwell to stay atop District 11-1A.

No. 1 Wall Dominates Past Ballinger to Hold District's Top Spot

The no. 1-ranked Wall Lady Hawks continued their stellar run of form with their 12th straight win in a dominant 52-24 road win over Ballinger Tuesday night. The win also gave the Lady Hawks sole possession of first place with the loss being Ballinger's first in District 4-3A.

The teams started out slow in the first quarter, but Wall's defense prevailed by holding Ballinger to just three points while the Lady Hawks tallied seven.

Wall's offense then took center stage by exploding for 19 points in the second quarter behind 11 from Angelo State signee Sawyer Lloyd. Ballinger held it close in the quarter with 11 points of their own, but still trailed 26-14 at the half.

The Lady Hawks found the perfect balance between their offense and defense in the second half, outscoring Ballinger 26-10 to close out the game.

Lloyd was the game-high scorer with 22 points for the Lady Hawks. Sam Rocha finished second on the team with 11 points.

Emma Tolliver led the way for Ballinger with seven points.

Wall (20-1, 5-0) will resume district play on Jan. 15 with a road trip to Reagan County.

Ballinger (14-13, 4-1) will travel to Reagan County this Friday, Jan. 11.

Central Snags Sole Possession of First Place with Rout of Fort Worth Richland

The Central Lady Bobcats secured sole possession of first place in District 3-6A with a 42-19 over the Fort Worth Richland Lady Rebels on Tuesday.

The first quarter was neck-and-neck, with both teams playing a tough half court man-to-man defense. The Lady Bobcats jumped in the lead early 10-7.

Only one point was scored for the majority of the second quarter and that was by the Lady Rebels. It wasn't until the last two minutes when the Lady Bobcats to scored, but when they did, they went on a 9-0 run to lead at the half 19-8.

The third quarter was were Central really took control of this game. They scored 11 points in the quarter and only gave up two as they extended their lead 30-10. 

Central cruised through the fourth quarter and ended up beating the Lady Rebels behind Parris Parmer’s 17 points.

Layla Young also had 10 points. 

Central (20-4, 5-0) will travel to Hurst Bell on Friday for a 5:00 p.m. game.

Miles Holds off Winters' Late Rally for District Win 

The Miles Lady Bulldogs had to fight off a furious push from the Winters Lady Blizzards in a 38-28 win in District 7-2A. 

The first quarter was close with a 6-4 lead by the Lady Blizzards. This is the last quarter they ever held the lead. 

Miles' Regan Smithwick put up six of the sixteen points that let the Lady Bulldogs get ahead at half time 20-11.

Winters' struggle in the second quarter put them in a whole they couldn't dig out of even thought they outscored Miles 11-7 in the third quarter. Marley Smith had six points in the quarter, but trailed 27-21.

To finish the game the Lady Bulldogs went on a run led by Skyler Brook's six points to get their first district win. 

Smithwick finished with a game-high 15 points. Brooks finished with 10.

Karlee Busher led the way for the Lady Blizzards with 11 points. 

Miles (5-10, 1-1) travels to Christoval on Friday looking to keep momentum from their win.

Winters (8-15, 0-2) will hope to rebound with a home game against Eldorado on Friday.

Jones Puts Up 19 in Christoval's Rout of Ozona for Richardson's 300th Win

The Christoval Lady Cougars picked up their third win in a row with a 62-14 win over Ozona Tuesday night. The win marked the 300th win of head coach Scott Richardson's career.

Christoval started hot, outscoring Ozona 19-5 in the first behind 11 points from Graci Jones. The Lady Cougars never looked back after that.

Christoval went on to outscore Ozona 21-4, 12-3 and 9-2 to close out the game.

Jones had three three pointers en route to a game-high mark of 19 points. Allison Vaughn was right behind her with 15 points.

Christoval (10-9, 2-0) will host Miles on Friday with hopes of staying atop the district standings.

Ozona (2-12, 0-2) travels to district front-runner Forsan looking to break an eight-game losing streak.

TLCA Edges Out Grape Creek Behind Kirkland's Explosive Performance

A fast start by the TLCA Lady Eagles was almost wiped out by Grape Creek in a narrow 33-30 win on Tuesday.

TLCA jumped out to an 18-10 lead after the first quarter thanks to 10 points from Tyrah Atchison's 10-point first quarter. Kait Kirkland also had eight points for TLCA. Taigan Rivers and Kyla Walker kept Grape Creek close by combining for their 10 points in the quarter.

TLCA maintained that margin after the two teams matched each other in the second quarter with eight points each. Rivers had five of Grape Creek's eight points in the second quarter. Kirkland had five points including a three pointer for TLCA.

However, TLCA went cold in the third quarter, scoring just one point on a free throw from Kirkland. But they were able to keep Grape Creek at bay by allowing just five points to maintain a 27-21 margin going into the fourth quarter.

Grape Creek made a late push in the fourth quarter by scoring nine points behind Walker's five fourth quarter points. But TLCA was able to hang on by scoring just six points in the final frame.

Kirkland was the game-high scorer with 16 points. Clark was the only other member of TLCA's squad to finish in double figures with 10 points.

Walker finished with 13 points, a team-high for Grape Creek.

TLCA (2-10, 1-5) will look to build on this momentum against Brady this Friday.

Grape Creek (3-18, 0-5) will hope to get their first district win this Friday at Sonora.

Robert Lee Runs Rampant to Stampede Past Sterling City

The Robert Lee Lady Steers scored early and often to secure a dominant 73-33 district win over the Sterling City Lady Eagles on Tuesday.

Robert Lee kicked the game off with an explosive first quarter to take a 21-11 lead behind 12 points from Kelby Clawson. Dally Coulter helped keep the deficit manageable for Sterling City with seven first quarter points including a three pointer.

In the second quarter, Robert Lee stayed red-hot and Sterling City went ice cold as the Lady Steers extended their lead to to 30-16 heading into halftime. Kaylee Puentez led the way for Robert Lee in the quarter with a three pointer and nine points.

From there, Robert Lee stayed in control, outscoring Sterling City 33-17 in the second half.

In all, Robert Lee had four girls finish in double figures. Clawson led the way with a team-high 18 points. Braylee Hood finished with 15 points. Jullisa Ureno had 14 points for Robert Lee. Puentez had 13 points on the night.

However, Coulter took the game-high mark with 22 points for Sterling City. She was the only Lady Eagle in double figures.

Sonora Notches 20th Win for First Time in Four Years

The Sonora Lady Broncos picked up their first 20-win season in four years with a 43-10 rout of Cornerstone Christian on Tuesday.

The Lady Broncos jumped out on Cornerstone quick, taking a 24-4 lead after the first quarter. Sonora then shut out Cornerstone in the second quarter to take a 32-4 lead at the half.

Sonora then cooled off with the comfortable lead and outscored Cornerstone 11-6 in the second half.

Skylar Harris stole the show with a game-high 23 points. She did that by going 8-of-11 from the field and 2-of-4 from behind the three-point line.

Mary Kyle Johnson had nine points, but was a force defensively for the Lady Broncos with four rebounds, six steals and a block.

Sonora (20-5, 3-2) will resume district play on Friday when they host Grape Creek.