Lady Cougars Fall in Ozona

OZONA— The Christoval basketball teams traveled to Ozona Friday to take on the Lions where the Lady Cougars had a chance knock-off the Lady Lions, who are undefeated in district.

Let’s start with the end of the junior varsity boy’s game. Christoval, down two in the waning seconds of the game, Aiden Medrano shot a three-pointer that missed, only for the Stanton McGlothlin to snag the rebound, go up, and not only tie the game, but get fouled in the process.

With the game tied 30-30, with only :20 seconds remaining and after a couple time outs, Ozona threw in the ball. Bruce Cooper jumped in front of the pass and got the ball to McGolthlin an easy two-point shot make the score 32-30 and ended the game in regulation.

Christoval was riding high into the varsity girl’s game. Earlier in the season, the Lady Lions beat the Lady Cougars 45-33 and in order to stay in the district championship race, the Lady Cougars needed a different outcome.

The first quarter, the Cougars came out hot, scoring 11 points with big contributions from sophomore Halle Hughes. Hughes led the Lady Cougars in the first quarter with four points, Aaliyah Bogs hit a three, Braylee Silva had two points, and Madyson George and Sienna Gonzales each made and missed one free throw.

Ozona’s Vale Garza made two free throws, while Raelee Garza scored four points and Mia Davidson scored two.

After one, the Lady Cougars were up 11-8. Into the second quarter, the Lady Cougars struggled to put points on the board and the Lady Lions caught stride. Hughes and Silva each had two points while would be the only points Christoval scored in the second. Workman and George would each miss a free throw.

The Lady Lions ended up putting 13 on the board. Claire Bean was a perfect 4/4 from the free throw line while R. Garza sunk a three, Alondra Garza had four, and Kelyn Gass made a two-pointer. Both V. Garza and Jaylynn Tijerina missed one from the free throw line.

At halftime, the Lady Cougars went into the locker room down 21-15.

Into the third, Lady Lion’s Bean was again a perfect from the free throw line going 4/4 while Gass, A. Garza, and Mia Davidson put up six points combined. The Lady Cougars scored eight points behind a George three-pointer, Hughes’ three points, and Mady Wipff’s two-pointer.

The Lady Lions went into the final quarter up 31-23.

Now into the fourth, the Lady Cougars went on a scoring rampage, putting up 16 points knowing the ground they needed to cover. The Lady Lions did manage to put up nine points. But in the final seconds, down one point, the Lady Cougars had a chance after a pass under their basket went off of a Lady Lion.

Gonzalez threw the ball in to Hughes, who did get a shot off but missed. Ozona’s Gass rebounded the ball as the game clock ran out.

The Lady Lions defeated the Lady Cougars 40-39. In the end, the Lady Lion’s shots were falling, and Christoval’s weren’t. The big difference in the game was from the free throw line where the Lady Lions went 13/20 and the Lady Cougars went 9/19.

SCORING

CHS: Hughes-15, George-7, Silva-6, Bogs-5, Walker-3, Wipff-2, Gonzalez- 1

(3s— Bogs-1, George-1)

OHS: Bean-8, Gass-7, V. Garza-7, Davidson-6, A. Garza-6, R. Garza-4, Quiroz-2

(3s— V. Garza-1)

DISTRICT STANDINGS

• Ozona— 11-0
• Christoval— 9-2
• Eldorado— 6-4
• Water Valley— 4-6
• Sonora— 4-6
• Sterling City— 3-6
• Forsan— 2-7
• Reagan County— 1-9

The Boy’s game started off a little slow for the Cougars but got things going quickly in the first quarter. The Lions closed in on the Cougar’s lead until Sevatian Salinas and Landon Scott caught fire. Scott put up six points, four from the free throw line while Salinas knocked down a three, a free throw, and four points. Jaron Slaton tried to kick things off right after he sank a three and Camdin Balderas scored two.

The Lions put up 13 points in the first. Michael Preddy hit a three, Michael and Matthew Daniels each scored four, and Logan Thompson scored two.

Into the second quarter, Slaton became unstoppable, putting up 15 points in the second alone. The Balderas Brothers each scored two, Luke Nelle made a layup, Salinas added four, and Scott continued his good game with four points. The Lions only added two points to the scoreboard.

At halftime, the Cougars were up big 48-15 over the Lions.

The Cougars scored 22 points in the third with big third quarter performances from Scott and Slaton. The Lions ended up adding 11 points being nine-point quarters from Michael Daniels, Dusty Smith, and Nick Sanchez.

Into the fourth with the Cougars out in front, Christoval added 10 points to the Lion’s nine. Christoval took the big victory over Ozona 82-36.

SCORING

CHS: Slaton-27, Scott-17, Salinas-14, G. Balderas-6, C. Balderas-6, Busch-6, Joiner-2, Nelle-2

(3s— Slaton-6, Salinas-1)

OHS: Michael Daniels-13, Sanchez-8, Preddy-5, Matthew Daniels-4, Smith-3, Thompson-2

(3s— Michael Daniels-1, Smith-1, Preddy-1)

DISTRICT STANDINGS

• Reagan County— 9-0
• Sterling City— 7-2
• Christoval— 6-2
• Forsan— 4-5
• Water Valley— 4-5
• Eldorado— 3-6
• Ozona— 1-6
• Sonora— 0-8