The Lady Dillos are like the old John Travolta movie- "STAYING ALIVE!!" They beat Comanche this past Saturday in a grinder downing the Lady Maidens by a score of 37-35. We didn’t shoot the ball well but one thing we did a great job of doing was defending. When you play someone for the third time they normally have a grasp of what you will do. We struggled a bit offensively but we made stops when we had to and advanced to the state playoffs for the third consecutive year.

We were up three after one period of play and took a one point lead in at halftime, 16-15. We were able to up the lead to six on a few occasions in the third quarter and lead going into the last stanza of play. I will give credit to Comanche for never throwing in the towel. The last three years they have played us tougher than anyone. We had a six point lead with about three minutes left in the game but the Maidens got a few steals off their press and cut the lead to two late in the game. This was as close as they would get as we broke their press and made some timely freethrows down the stretch. I would like to congratulate Comanche and Coach Baker on their season.

Coach Baker does a great job and Comanche is lucky to

have him. This was a great TEAM win for us. Jaena Edwards hit some big shots in the first half to give us a first half lead and Johna Reavis chipped in some timely baskets in the third quarter. Danessa Vasquez hit a big three in the third quarter to give us a lift and made some freethrows down the stretch. Haylee Oliver played big on defense coming up with several blocks and also making freethrows down the stretch. Karlee Cromer, Ashley Pulatie, and Lex Maxcey provided valuable minutes off the bench. Nessa hurt her ankle and Joannah Crosby stepped in and played some big minutes in a tough environment. Tarah Crosby played good defense on the Drews kid not allowing her to hit some big three pointers which she has done against us before. Johna also stuck to #13 for Comanche like glue and didn’t let her hurt us like she did the last

game. Paige Faught and Kayla Kutin provided great support

for their teammates throughout the game and we left a happy bunch!!!!

This past Tuesday we ended our regular season at home versus Coleman. It was a must win as we had to take care of our own business and then find out how Early and Comanche came out. It was a special night. We won easily but it was a special night as we honored five outstanding young ladies. This group has spent a great deal of time within our Lady Dillo Basketball Program. Each of these girls has either been on varsity for three or four years and over that span have been involved in a great deal of success. I applaud them for sticking with our program, never giving up and for giving our school and town some great memories over the years starting with their seventh grade year on up to this year. You SENIORS are a great group and are greatly appreciated. There would be no denying this bunch on senior night. We jumped on Coleman from the get go and never looked back. We found out later that night that Comanche had won so we knew we had another battle waiting in the wings.

We will have played Merkel when the article comes out in San Angelo at the Junnell Center. They are a great team and well coached. Hopefully when the paper comes out we’ll still be standing. If we win we would face Harper but have no idea where that might be. We’ll cross that bridge when it happens. To quote the late Jim Valvano come this time of year, it’s "Survive and Advance". I promise this, Lady Dillo Fans, we’ll give all we have on Tuesday and make you proud. Several SHOUTOUTS this week. Take a bow FANS- you guys were awesome once again this past Saturday night and are greatly appreciated. The next SHOUTOUT goes to Kaycee Thiebaud- thanks for organizing the Parents Night and Beau and Sweetheart presentation. A huge SHOUTOUT to Kenneth Groomes- we had a sudden power/light outage right before our JV game with Coleman but all turned out well as Kenneth came to the rescue. Let me include the other maintenance guys and transportation director as well-

Scott Miller, Paul Stewart, Luis Garza and Alton Tinney helped us out throughout the year in so many ways and we appreciate all they do.

My last SHOUTOUT goes to our SENIORS- Jaena Edwards, Johna Reavis, Tarah Crosby, Haylee Oliver and Danessa Vasquez. Take a bow ladies and thank you for the memories. You have done so much for our basketball program. There is no doubt in my mind that you all will be successful at whatever you do in life. You are all KEEPERS in my book. Peace Out!!! MOE and PHIL 4:13.