Headed to Playoffs: Lady ’Cats crush Tarpons in last district game

By JUAN ESTEVE
Special to the NEWS

Defenders
Pictured are Lady Tarpons attempting to defend their basket as the Lady Bobcats move aggressively onto the court.
(Staff photo by David Lopez)

RIO HONDO—The fierce Rio Hondo Lady ‘Cats faced-off against the Port Isabel Lady Tarpons on Monday in a home game that was heavily lopsided in favor of Rio Hondo.

After the second period, the final score was 65-36, marking a tremendous confident victory for the home team in the district 32-4A Region IV finale. The Lady Cats’ were already having a better district season (12-2) than Port Isabel (9-5) before the game began.

At the beginning of the game, it was the Lady ‘Cats who got the first possession but lost the ball in a steal right away. Then Port Isabel lost the ball in a wrong pass and made a foul on Rio Hondo’s Amanda Gomez (#10), who put up the first points for the Lady ‘Cats from the free throws line, making the score 1-0. Then Port Isabel missed a long shot, and Rio Hondo scored on a fast-break to make it 3-0, then with 5:20 into the first, Eliza Rodriguez (#3) made the score 6-2 for Rio Hondo.

Once again, Rodriguez scored a double to make it 10-2 in favor of the Lady’ Cats. Thus, the game was taking shape for the home team, to which the Lady Tarpons answered with a triple by Whitney Zaloski (#12), making it 10-5 and staying in the game for the rest of the period.

Pass
Jazaline Ayala (#5) is seen searching for a teammate to pass the ball to.
(Staff photo by David Lopez)

Then, the game got tied up 10-10 after the first eight minutes of play.

Still, in the second period, the home team took advantage of many missed shots by Port Isabel. With back-to-back baskets from Rodriguez and Gomez, the Lady ‘Cats jumped ahead in the game 17-12 with 4:36 minutes left in the second period.

The score got stretched when Rio Hondo’s Natalie Martinez (#15) scored a two-point basket and put the scoreboard 22-15, with 3:53 left in the second period. That difference only increased the rest of the period with Rio Hondo outscoring Port Isabel 5-1 during the last four minutes. Still, that difference was enhanced by the Lady ‘Cats, who firmly increased their lead at the end of the third period.

The score, now 42-20, was unreachable for the Lady Tarpons.

Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. To read the full story, click here or make sure to grab a copy of the Feb. 14 – Feb. 20, 2020 issue of the NEWS.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2020/02/14/headed-to-playoffs-lady-cats-crush-tarpons-in-last-district-game/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.