Lady Apaches come up short

For three quarters, the Gonzales girls basketball team looked primed for a win Tuesday night.

The Lady Apaches battled Giddings point-for-point as the teams shared a 43-43 tie heading into the fourth quarter. But the final period did not bode well for Gonzales (3-20, 0-2 in District 26-3A) as the Lady Buffs held the Lady Apaches to four points and escaped with a 54-47 victory Tuesday at Gonzales High School.

“We had our foot on the gas pedal, but we took it off at times and it came back to haunt us,” Gonzales coach Kent Smith said. “We also missed a lot of back ends of free-throw attempts that would’ve helped us down the stretch.”

Gonzales owned the first quarter as the Lady Apaches held a 13-11 lead after the game’s first eight minutes. Jade McCook scored 5 points in the opening period, while Taylor West knocked down a 3-pointer and Rena Camarillo and Kelsey Hardy both had 2.

The start of the second quarter went well for Gonzales as the Lady Apaches opened the period on an 11-5 run to take a 24-16 lead with less than three minutes remaining before halftime.

Five different players scored in the second quarter as Hardy had 3 points, while West, Danielle Flowers, Cassidy LaFleur and Ashli Malatek all had 2.

But Giddings did not give up. The Lady Buffs used several turnovers to score 11 unanswered points and seize a 27-24 lead at halftime.

“We scared them in the first half,” Smith said. “If we don’t give up 11 straight points before halftime, we have an 8-point lead and momentum. That really made a difference.”

The third quarter featured four lead changes and a trio of ties, and the period started with an 8-2 run by Gonzales thanks to a Tamika White layup and a pair of Hardy 3-pointers to help the Lady Apaches seize a 32-29 lead.

But Giddings used a 10-2 run to seize a 39-34 lead midway through the third. Gonzales then closed out the period on a 9-4 run thanks to 4 points from McCook, a layup from White and a 3-pointer from Hardy at the buzzer to tie the game at 43 heading into the final quarter.

The Lady Apaches went cold in the fourth as they could only muster a Hardy layup and a free throw each from Camarillo and McCook. The Lady Buffs finished the game on an 11-4 run in the final eight minutes.

Hardy led the way for Gonzales with 18 points and five assists, while McCook had 10 to go with a team-high 14 rebounds. West scored 5 points, White had 4, Camarillo and LaFleur each had 3, Flowers and Malatek both had 2 as every Lady Apache scored in the contest, and Malatek also pulled down 10 rebounds.

Gonzales also lost its district opener last Friday at La Grange, 44-27. The Lady Leopards built a 13-6 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back.

La Grange used a 10-3 second-quarter run to build a 23-9 halftime lead. The Lady Apaches outscored the Lady Leopards, 12-10, in the third quarter before being outscored 11-6 in the fourth.

Hardy and West both had 6 points to lead Gonzales in scoring. Camarillo had 5 points, while McCook and White both scored 4.

Gonzales hits the road in search of its first 26-3A win tonight as the Lady Apaches travel to Yoakum. Tipoff is scheduled for 6.

Karnes City 60, Luling 29

The Lady Eagles remained winless in 28-2A play with a 60-29 loss to Karnes City Tuesday at Luling High School. Luling (5-17, 0-5 in 28-2A) was led by Carley Glass, who had 10 points.

The Lady Eagles close out the first half of district play tonight at Poth. They are scheduled to tipoff at 6.